Introducing Android 9 Pie • Hacker News Board

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#11

Post by rayiner » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 5:50 PM UTC

> App Actions is a new way to raise the visibility of your app and drive engagement. Actions take advantage of machine learning to surface your app to the user at just the right time, based on your app's semantic intents and the user's context.

Aside from the unnecessary jargon, this irks me how it portrays the user as some passive consumer. It really drives home how Google is, first and foremost, an advertising company.

Compare Apple's ad copy: https://developer.apple.com/ios

> Siri can now intelligently pair users’ daily routines with your apps to suggest convenient shortcuts right when they’re needed. Use the Shortcuts API to help users quickly accomplish tasks related to your app, directly from the lock screen, in Search, or from the Siri watch face.

See how this is much more respectful of the user, by treating her as an active entity? Overall, Apple's copy is less jargon-y and terrible too: https://developer.apple.com/ios/whats-new.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#12

Post by untog » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 5:51 PM UTC

DennisAleynikov wrote: post #7

I'm no longer surprised that Samsung doesn't feel the need to update to the latest version of Android! Grace UX (their skin) already had all of these features as of last year. I do not see anything worth upgrading for here. Potentially huge for people buying the notched phones. The support for that did improve in this update.

Surely the headline features here are the machine learning everything, not really the UI tweaks?

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#13

Post by the_duke » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 5:52 PM UTC

mmastrac wrote: post #4

One of the quieter features of Android 9 is that they are reducing the API surface of Android by explicitly black-listing and white-listing various APIs and fields that previously required reflection to access. None of these APIs were documented, but none of them were explicitly "off limits" before Android P. That suggests that the life of Java as Android's primary language might be really coming to an end, even thou…

undocumented => documented

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#14

Post by sigfubar » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 5:53 PM UTC

DennisAleynikov wrote: post #7

I'm no longer surprised that Samsung doesn't feel the need to update to the latest version of Android! Grace UX (their skin) already had all of these features as of last year. I do not see anything worth upgrading for here. Potentially huge for people buying the notched phones. The support for that did improve in this update.

Samsung's modifications to the stock Android experience aren't "features"; these are desperate attempts to differentiate itself from other Android handset OEMs. The resulting need to reconcile two codebases leaves users as the losers: they wait forever for general advancements in the Android ecosystem.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#15

Post by mmastrac » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 5:54 PM UTC

the_duke wrote: post #13

mmastrac wrote: post #4

One of the quieter features of Android 9 is that they are reducing the API surface of Android by explicitly black-listing and white-listing various APIs and fields that previously required reflection to access. None of these APIs were documented, but none of them were explicitly "off limits" before Android P. That suggests that the life of Java as Android's primary language might be really coming to an end, even thou…

undocumented => documented

Thanks, fixed my typo.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#16

Post by sigfubar » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 5:55 PM UTC

mikeevans wrote: post #2

Interesting that the Digital Wellbeing features that were teased at IO aren't being launched today, but part of _another_ beta that you have to opt in to. (And Pixel series only?)

By the time Android P actually makes it to non-Pixel devices, the beta will have long since ended, so this doesn't really matter.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#17

Post by haldean » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 5:55 PM UTC

unethical_ban wrote: post #6

* It looks like they've taken away the "apps" homerow button and swapped it for "swipe up from anywhere". So that is one less gesture available to apps, unless you install an alternative desktop. * Wi-Fi RTT sounds pretty neat, I had not heard of that before. * Shutting mic, camera and sensor data off for idle/background apps is neat, though I'm shocked that wasn't an option before.

It also looks like the back button is gone... how is that supposed to work?

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#18

Post by mkirklions » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 5:58 PM UTC

DennisAleynikov wrote: post #7

I'm no longer surprised that Samsung doesn't feel the need to update to the latest version of Android! Grace UX (their skin) already had all of these features as of last year. I do not see anything worth upgrading for here. Potentially huge for people buying the notched phones. The support for that did improve in this update.

Curious what others think of samsung hardware on HN.

Ive had:

>S5 phone whos charging port broke and had terrible battery life. But hey, when I bought the phone the screen was bright and beautiful... I feel like I was tricked

>My SSD failed in a year

>My grandpa's 1,000 dollar samsung TV he bought in 2018 has an irresponsibly slow smart TV.

And I read some horror stories about samsung home appliances when I was looking to buy them last year.

I cannot tell if Samsung has lots of customers with horror stories, or a massive marketing department that is able to get people to buy average products at luxury prices.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#19

Post by phalangion » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 5:58 PM UTC

haldean wrote: post #17

unethical_ban wrote: post #6

* It looks like they've taken away the "apps" homerow button and swapped it for "swipe up from anywhere". So that is one less gesture available to apps, unless you install an alternative desktop. * Wi-Fi RTT sounds pretty neat, I had not heard of that before. * Shutting mic, camera and sensor data off for idle/background apps is neat, though I'm shocked that wasn't an option before.

It also looks like the back button is gone... how is that supposed to work?

Probably the same way it works on iPhone, where developers incorporate navigation into the apps.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#20

Post by DoofusOfDeath » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 6:01 PM UTC

haldean wrote: post #17

unethical_ban wrote: post #6

* It looks like they've taken away the "apps" homerow button and swapped it for "swipe up from anywhere". So that is one less gesture available to apps, unless you install an alternative desktop. * Wi-Fi RTT sounds pretty neat, I had not heard of that before. * Shutting mic, camera and sensor data off for idle/background apps is neat, though I'm shocked that wasn't an option before.

It also looks like the back button is gone... how is that supposed to work?

That might not be a bad thing. I've used Android for a while, but I'm not always clear if/when the back button will do in-app navigation vs. return me to the phone's home screen.