Live data from Hacker News

Android P

blog.google

281–290 of 316 posts

Re: Android P

#281
post #3

... Say you connect your headphones to your device, Android will surface an action to resume your favorite Spotify playlist ... ... but what if we could surface part of the app itself ... What is it with the repeated usage of 'surface' here, instead of the more obvious and common word 'show'? Is it something to do with Android API naming, or something else?

As far as I can tell, it's an Android thing. They even call their display manager thing (I don't know the right term for it) SurfaceFlinger: https://source.android.com/devices/graphics/

it seems they have also reused these two familiar words in a way that could add some confusion to the Android developer's life:

* "bundle" (as in "app bundles", a feature that lets Google Play deliver an installer with a stripped down set of resources to the end user's device)

* "action" (as in the new feature of the UI known as an "action" which some have alternatively describe as a "visible intent" or a "deep link with parameters." or something)

Re: Android P

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of those apps exist in AOSP and have many open source equivalents not developed by Google. The platform that those apps run on is just as open now as it was in the G1 days.

> The platform that those apps run on is just as open now as it was in the G1 days. It never was open. Sure, Google ups a bunch of source code to AOSP after the release of a new version but there is no actual OSS-style development going on. All development is behind closed doors, only done by Google and the public cannot contribute. I cannot check out the latest development version of Android from github, fix some is…

Agreed. It might have made sense to do development behind closed doors in the early days with the mobile patent war raging, but now that most advances are in apps and services on top of the platform instead of in the platform itself and now that Apple is way behind in features and usability and has no way to catch up, they might as well switch to the Chrome development model, or at least the Fuchsia model where the roadmap and design discussion is closed but the code is entirely open.

Re: Android P

#283
post #182
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Treble requires SoC vendors to provide drivers with explicit support. SoCs from Nexus devices aren't supported by Qualcomm so they simply can't be upgraded.

That is why there is this thing called legal agreements. If Google actually cared, they would impose support requirements on OEMs that wanted to play on Android playground.

but ... did Google really have that much leverage in those relationships, at least, early on?

how authoritarian could Google be about forcing this on, say, Samsung?

and if they granted Samsung an exception, what would the reaction be from other manufacturers?

Re: Android P

#284

Coming from iOS, with all the disclosures about how Android leaks to Facebook much more I expected to see permissions locked down a lot more. There's a difference between "I want to put a location in my status update" to "I want to upload my location 24/7 to Facebook's servers so they can profile the crap out of me". iOS makes this difference. Android doesn't.

Android P is locking various things down, such as network monitoring and mic/camera recording for background apps.

https://developer.android.com/preview/behavior-changes#input...

"Android P strengthens privacy by limiting the ability of background apps to access user input and sensor data. If your app is running in the background on a device running Android P, the system applies the following restrictions to your app:

- Your app cannot access the microphone or camera.

- Sensors that use the continuous reporting mode, such as accelerometers and gyroscopes, don't receive events.

- Sensors that use the on-change or one-shot reporting modes don't receive events.

If your app needs to detect sensor events on devices running Android P, use a foreground service."

Re: Android P

#285
post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is why there is this thing called legal agreements. If Google actually cared, they would impose support requirements on OEMs that wanted to play on Android playground.

but ... did Google really have that much leverage in those relationships, at least, early on? how authoritarian could Google be about forcing this on, say, Samsung? and if they granted Samsung an exception, what would the reaction be from other manufacturers?

As much as they would be willing to go.

Given the results of Bada and Tizen, Google would have little to worry about if Samsung ever decides to go rogue.

Re: Android P

#286

Adaptive Brightness: "solving a problem that's been solved numerous times, but this time using machine learning"

I can't wait for them to use blockchain on next iteration to solve this issue.

Re: Android P

#287
post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really depends on your lifestyle. I think i have a very healty sleep system where i basicially follow no rules. I sleep when I really get tired and wake/stay up when i want. My last sleep cycle was 11 1/2 hours, because a day before i only got like 90minutes (thats not common for me, but happens - usually i sleep more like 6 hours). That only works if you dont have a fixed day time job. Especially when i have appo…

Just a reminder that research basically found that “catch up on sleep” doesn’t really work. Bodies are astonishing machines, capable of adapting to the most extreme conditions, but they do work better when they can repeat the same routines day after day. As a fellow 6-hour-sleeper, I think modern society makes it a bit hard for people like me. The reality is that my body wants to sleep in 3-hour cycles, and doesn’t r…

> Just a reminder that research basically found that “catch up on sleep” doesn’t really work

Yeah, i dont do that. I just used to be the case I had a night of less sleep, a stress and eventful day and then a night with a long sleep phase. I dont try to catch up or anything. I just slept this without a break (My Gear sport recorded no interruptions and very few restless phases).

Re: Android P

#288
post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really depends on your lifestyle. I think i have a very healty sleep system where i basicially follow no rules. I sleep when I really get tired and wake/stay up when i want. My last sleep cycle was 11 1/2 hours, because a day before i only got like 90minutes (thats not common for me, but happens - usually i sleep more like 6 hours). That only works if you dont have a fixed day time job. Especially when i have appo…

Just a reminder that research basically found that “catch up on sleep” doesn’t really work. Bodies are astonishing machines, capable of adapting to the most extreme conditions, but they do work better when they can repeat the same routines day after day. As a fellow 6-hour-sleeper, I think modern society makes it a bit hard for people like me. The reality is that my body wants to sleep in 3-hour cycles, and doesn’t r…

It's very interesting that you mention the culture be "northern" in nature.

Mid-day nap culture is still very much alive in really hot countries, where it's practically impossible to work mid-day.

Re: Android P

#289
post #254

I'm tired of the throw away culture of Android device manufacturers. With the exception of Google Pixel and the Samsung top models, where you get up to 3 Years (security) updates, you can throw your Android device away after 2 years, sometimes only after a year. The hardware is usually still fine after this time, but you won't get no more updates and will have an insecure device.

You can install LineageOS after two years on many devices.

And on many more you can not. It's getting increasingly difficult with that shitload of devices being on the market which while being so similar are so different. Even if you try to buy with that in mind and explicitly choose a well supported one there is no guarantee this holds true after some years. Either the next Android version breaks a lot of things or the handful of people who do the work loose interest or time to do it, often both.

Re: Android P

#290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is ironic given that Android P lifted iPhone X navigation and is adding support for notches, also lifted from the iPhone X.

Both iPhone X and Android P lifted their gesture navigation from webOS

My parents still use their touchpad.
Post reply on HN