Android outside smartphones: questions for adults
Announcements of Google I / O 2016 showed how big a bet Google is making on using Android outside the usual “phone-tablet” version. Daydream's VR platform will add smartphones with helmets and controllers, Android Wear has a big update 2.0, Android TV will get an API for recording TV broadcasts, ChromeOS will learn how to run Android applications, and even on cars they wanted to install a full-fledged Android N (instead of Android Auto). At I / O, the company diligently showed the assembled developers: see, Android is not only standard mobile applications, but also VR worlds, watch dials, television and desktop services, let's do it all.
The question is how much developers should listen to these speeches: are there really new market niches now opening up in which you should take the place as quickly as possible, or will it work out like with Google Glass glasses, which were once also presented as the most promising platform?
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There is no exact answer: how much Daydream will be in demand, so far they don’t know even in Google itself. But some reasonable assumptions can be made by those developers who already have experience with previous similar projects: Cardboard (which comes Daydream), Chromecast (its capabilities have been expanded in Android TV), the first version of Android Wear. Does their experience match the beautiful numbers like the “25 million Chromecast Sold” that Google voiced on I / O?
We asked the following people:
Alexander Korshak
I got my first experience in the development of “out of smartphones” in Android back in 2013, when the first version of the Galaxy Gear, then still running Android, appeared in our company. It was a professional need associated with the development of a mode of operation for people with disabilities. Simultaneously with this project, my team began to conduct a lot of experiments related to the integration of the capabilities of modern action-cameras and “smart” watches based on Android (the watches acted as a controller for the camera and at the same time an external screen, which is often not available on action cameras). All this experience was useful in the future, as they say, "gone-gone."
As for my upcoming report related to Cardboard and VR, there is not much boasting about the “professional necessity”. The first experience was related to my personal interest in technology, but recently “product” tasks began to emerge to support 360-degree video and audio, where this experience turned out to be very useful.
Anton Keks
Chromecast can hardly be called Android - it is a slightly different technology based on Google Chrome and the web. The thing is great, because it allows you to add additional interactive screen in the form of a TV, which can be controlled while sitting on the couch. I still think that for my money this is a very useful thing. Android TV, which appeared later, also supports the Google Cast protocol, so you can run both Android applications and Cast applications on it. Android applications for TV are still not enough, but thanks to the Google Cast protocol you can do a lot of things with your TV, as it’s still more convenient to manage interactive content on TV using a phone than a remote control.
As a hobby photographer, I made an application for myself that allows you to view your huge photo library on the big screen, including in the background, thus eliminating the need for photo frames or something similar. To do something like this would be much more difficult using, for example, Apple technology.
Alexey Rybakov
Since 2014, we are engaged in Android Wear in DataArt, and since the end of 2015 - Android TV. Everything, as always, began with experiments and the desire to try something new. Today we have a solid expertise, and we offer our clients the development of applications for Android Wear. Android TV is still under study - but here we also have thoughts and ideas on which customers will be interested.
Alexander Korshak
There are always a lot of pitfalls in any area, since it is not customary to talk about them openly. The simplest example perfectly demonstrates the Cardboard SDK (now the Google VR SDK). Initially, it did not support NDK, which affected graphics performance in some cases. However, on Google I / O 2016, in addition to the announcement of Daydream, they also reported on updating Google VR SDK, which should enable developers to fix these problems.
Anton Keks
Google does good things and the right things, but many innovations are often still raw to use. For example, Chromecast initially suffered from memory leaks. Likewise, the latest versions of Android, if used before any other, for example, on Nexus devices, can also slow down or crash. Over time, Google fixes these problems, but the pioneers need to keep this in mind. The same thing will surely happen with innovations like Google Home.
Alexey Rybakov
Google and GDG-community every year give more and more high-quality information on products and technologies. Based on my experience, the problem is more all the same in the segmentation of the platform - a huge amount of different not always compatible hardware. At one time, I was NOT very pleased with the update in May 2015 for Moto 360 Gen 1, which practically turned the clock into a half-brick lag, but it should be noted that the latest updates to 6.x corrected the situation. If we talk about the latest Google I / O, then Wear 2.0 is very interesting - we are waiting for the new hardware and will be watching.
Alexander Korshak
If technology begins to take root in everyday human life, then at least it’s very reasonable to pay attention to it, I hope no one will argue with that. Virtual reality is already beginning to occupy its niches in the gaming industry, film industry, telecommunications, sales, various fields of education, medicine ... a lot of examples can be found abroad. As for returns, I can only say that at the moment in the field of virtual reality, the key role is played by the solution of a specific problem in a given area. If there is a cool useful idea - there will be a cool return. Recently I saw a CNN report about a real estate agency in the United States that provides virtual tours of homes for sale to save clients time. Isn't it great?
Anton Keks
I recommend everyone to try and maintain Chromecast, especially since it is not difficult. I have also been using Android Wear for quite a long time, and it’s already quite difficult for me without it. Using the clock as a remote control for TV or content on it is especially convenient.
Alexey Rybakov
Support for hours in the applications already have. Android TV is gaining momentum, more and more TV manufacturers are joining Google, but here, as always, 50 to 50: you can make one mega app and drink coffee in the Canaries, and you can make 100, but not to go to the market. In any case, the platform is interesting, with its own characteristics.
Alexander Korshak
Google I / O has traditionally made a lot of information noise, in which for some time it is difficult to draw purely objective conclusions. There are also avid pessimists who did not like anything, and avid optimists who perceive keynote I / O as “manna from heaven”. In my opinion, the Android Wear update should definitely increase the user base of carriers of “smart” watches on Android, and, most likely, the demand, since the device has taken the path of “independence”. Daydream is still a concept that you can't even touch at the moment. You must wait for the official release of the device and draw conclusions ...
Anton Keks
Android is already the most popular OS in the world. Google Home has a lot of potential to bring smart home to the masses. Android Wear is improving, and more recently it can even be used with an iPhone, so market growth must occur.
I also like the idea of using Android Auto without the need for a compatible car, just on the phone screen while driving. I even thought before myself, why not? Now it will be possible.
Alexey Rybakov
Predicting is always easy :) Most likely, a watch based on Wear 2.0 will slightly press the market for Android smartphones with a diagonal less than 5 inches. Android TV will eat a small share of the gaming console market, and probably a larger share of operating systems for set-top boxes and TV.
Anton Keks
We must try to use new types of devices ourselves, and then we will come up with ideas on how to improve our applications or products with the help of these new devices. Non-smartphone Android, undoubtedly, so far basically complements the smartphone. But most likely, in the future, the number of non-mobile devices will be reduced, and Android will increasingly replace desktop OS and crawl into other areas, such as refrigerators and washing machines. You need to be prepared for the fact that users of your applications will use them on such screens and input devices, about which it is difficult for you to assume something now. Therefore, you should not get too carried away with some kind of non-standard UI elements that can easily stop working in a non-standard environment.
Alexey Rybakov
As in any research and development project, you need to be patient, remember that the devices on which the application will run are not at all a smartphone and tablet, and that users will have a completely different user experience. And most importantly - do not be afraid to make mistakes and try new approaches)
Alexander Korshak
Begin June 4th with a visit to the St. Petersburg Mobius conference, where there will be related reports, be prepared for the obviousness of the obvious, and “rest in peace”, Google Glass.
All respondents are united by the willingness to tell more about similar topics at the Mobius conference. Anton Keks last year shared his experience on Chromecast development on it, and the rest can be seen on June 4 at Mobius 2016 : Alexander Korshak will talk about development for Cardboard there, and Alexei Rybakov will talk about game development for Android TV. And besides, there will be a report directly related to Google I / O news: Denis Neklyudov will analyze them in detail .
The question is how much developers should listen to these speeches: are there really new market niches now opening up in which you should take the place as quickly as possible, or will it work out like with Google Glass glasses, which were once also presented as the most promising platform?
')
There is no exact answer: how much Daydream will be in demand, so far they don’t know even in Google itself. But some reasonable assumptions can be made by those developers who already have experience with previous similar projects: Cardboard (which comes Daydream), Chromecast (its capabilities have been expanded in Android TV), the first version of Android Wear. Does their experience match the beautiful numbers like the “25 million Chromecast Sold” that Google voiced on I / O?
We asked the following people:
- Alexander Korshak (MERA): development experience for Cardboard, Android Wear, Smart TV
- Alexey Rybakov (DataArt): development experience for Android Wear and Android TV
- Anton Codex (Codeborne): Chromecast development experience
Tell in brief about your own experience with “Android outside smartphones” - what did you do and why. Was it an experiment or professional need?
Alexander KorshakI got my first experience in the development of “out of smartphones” in Android back in 2013, when the first version of the Galaxy Gear, then still running Android, appeared in our company. It was a professional need associated with the development of a mode of operation for people with disabilities. Simultaneously with this project, my team began to conduct a lot of experiments related to the integration of the capabilities of modern action-cameras and “smart” watches based on Android (the watches acted as a controller for the camera and at the same time an external screen, which is often not available on action cameras). All this experience was useful in the future, as they say, "gone-gone."
As for my upcoming report related to Cardboard and VR, there is not much boasting about the “professional necessity”. The first experience was related to my personal interest in technology, but recently “product” tasks began to emerge to support 360-degree video and audio, where this experience turned out to be very useful.
Anton KeksChromecast can hardly be called Android - it is a slightly different technology based on Google Chrome and the web. The thing is great, because it allows you to add additional interactive screen in the form of a TV, which can be controlled while sitting on the couch. I still think that for my money this is a very useful thing. Android TV, which appeared later, also supports the Google Cast protocol, so you can run both Android applications and Cast applications on it. Android applications for TV are still not enough, but thanks to the Google Cast protocol you can do a lot of things with your TV, as it’s still more convenient to manage interactive content on TV using a phone than a remote control.
As a hobby photographer, I made an application for myself that allows you to view your huge photo library on the big screen, including in the background, thus eliminating the need for photo frames or something similar. To do something like this would be much more difficult using, for example, Apple technology.
Alexey RybakovSince 2014, we are engaged in Android Wear in DataArt, and since the end of 2015 - Android TV. Everything, as always, began with experiments and the desire to try something new. Today we have a solid expertise, and we offer our clients the development of applications for Android Wear. Android TV is still under study - but here we also have thoughts and ideas on which customers will be interested.
What pitfalls have you encountered, what problems should you not learn from the beautiful Google presentations? Are these issues fixed by Google in the I / O?
Alexander Korshak
There are always a lot of pitfalls in any area, since it is not customary to talk about them openly. The simplest example perfectly demonstrates the Cardboard SDK (now the Google VR SDK). Initially, it did not support NDK, which affected graphics performance in some cases. However, on Google I / O 2016, in addition to the announcement of Daydream, they also reported on updating Google VR SDK, which should enable developers to fix these problems.
Anton Keks
Google does good things and the right things, but many innovations are often still raw to use. For example, Chromecast initially suffered from memory leaks. Likewise, the latest versions of Android, if used before any other, for example, on Nexus devices, can also slow down or crash. Over time, Google fixes these problems, but the pioneers need to keep this in mind. The same thing will surely happen with innovations like Google Home.
Alexey Rybakov
Google and GDG-community every year give more and more high-quality information on products and technologies. Based on my experience, the problem is more all the same in the segmentation of the platform - a huge amount of different not always compatible hardware. At one time, I was NOT very pleased with the update in May 2015 for Moto 360 Gen 1, which practically turned the clock into a half-brick lag, but it should be noted that the latest updates to 6.x corrected the situation. If we talk about the latest Google I / O, then Wear 2.0 is very interesting - we are waiting for the new hardware and will be watching.
How appropriate is it for developers to contact the direction you have tested - is it still “play around”, or in some cases, can the return be serious now? In which cases?
Alexander Korshak
If technology begins to take root in everyday human life, then at least it’s very reasonable to pay attention to it, I hope no one will argue with that. Virtual reality is already beginning to occupy its niches in the gaming industry, film industry, telecommunications, sales, various fields of education, medicine ... a lot of examples can be found abroad. As for returns, I can only say that at the moment in the field of virtual reality, the key role is played by the solution of a specific problem in a given area. If there is a cool useful idea - there will be a cool return. Recently I saw a CNN report about a real estate agency in the United States that provides virtual tours of homes for sale to save clients time. Isn't it great?
Anton Keks
I recommend everyone to try and maintain Chromecast, especially since it is not difficult. I have also been using Android Wear for quite a long time, and it’s already quite difficult for me without it. Using the clock as a remote control for TV or content on it is especially convenient.
Alexey Rybakov
Support for hours in the applications already have. Android TV is gaining momentum, more and more TV manufacturers are joining Google, but here, as always, 50 to 50: you can make one mega app and drink coffee in the Canaries, and you can make 100, but not to go to the market. In any case, the platform is interesting, with its own characteristics.
How do you think the picture will change over the next year? Does the new iteration of technologies announced on Google I / O mean that the demand for these technologies will significantly increase?
Alexander Korshak
Google I / O has traditionally made a lot of information noise, in which for some time it is difficult to draw purely objective conclusions. There are also avid pessimists who did not like anything, and avid optimists who perceive keynote I / O as “manna from heaven”. In my opinion, the Android Wear update should definitely increase the user base of carriers of “smart” watches on Android, and, most likely, the demand, since the device has taken the path of “independence”. Daydream is still a concept that you can't even touch at the moment. You must wait for the official release of the device and draw conclusions ...
Anton Keks
Android is already the most popular OS in the world. Google Home has a lot of potential to bring smart home to the masses. Android Wear is improving, and more recently it can even be used with an iPhone, so market growth must occur.
I also like the idea of using Android Auto without the need for a compatible car, just on the phone screen while driving. I even thought before myself, why not? Now it will be possible.
Alexey Rybakov
Predicting is always easy :) Most likely, a watch based on Wear 2.0 will slightly press the market for Android smartphones with a diagonal less than 5 inches. Android TV will eat a small share of the gaming console market, and probably a larger share of operating systems for set-top boxes and TV.
Give three recommendations to those who want to look into the world of "non-smartphone» Android. Where to start, what to be ready for, what is not worth paying attention to?
Anton Keks
We must try to use new types of devices ourselves, and then we will come up with ideas on how to improve our applications or products with the help of these new devices. Non-smartphone Android, undoubtedly, so far basically complements the smartphone. But most likely, in the future, the number of non-mobile devices will be reduced, and Android will increasingly replace desktop OS and crawl into other areas, such as refrigerators and washing machines. You need to be prepared for the fact that users of your applications will use them on such screens and input devices, about which it is difficult for you to assume something now. Therefore, you should not get too carried away with some kind of non-standard UI elements that can easily stop working in a non-standard environment.
Alexey Rybakov
As in any research and development project, you need to be patient, remember that the devices on which the application will run are not at all a smartphone and tablet, and that users will have a completely different user experience. And most importantly - do not be afraid to make mistakes and try new approaches)
Alexander Korshak
Begin June 4th with a visit to the St. Petersburg Mobius conference, where there will be related reports, be prepared for the obviousness of the obvious, and “rest in peace”, Google Glass.
All respondents are united by the willingness to tell more about similar topics at the Mobius conference. Anton Keks last year shared his experience on Chromecast development on it, and the rest can be seen on June 4 at Mobius 2016 : Alexander Korshak will talk about development for Cardboard there, and Alexei Rybakov will talk about game development for Android TV. And besides, there will be a report directly related to Google I / O news: Denis Neklyudov will analyze them in detail .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/302152/
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