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Introducing Android 9 Pie

android-developers.googleblog.com

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Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#251

Post by on_and_off »

ehsankia wrote: post #209
fixermark wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does, however, require supporting it, and those are engineering resources that could be spent elsewhere.

Software developers also often forget that UX is a thing. "Just add feature X, Y & Z". This is why you never let a programmer design UIs, you end up with a mess with dozens of buttons, menus and submenus everywhere. Every new feature comes at a UX cost, and in this case, the cost of the UX outweighs the benefits of you micromanaging your memory footprint.

People also seem to underestimate how complex resource management on a mobile OS is.

That's not exactly an easy problem.

Currently used apps

scheduled background work

currently active foreground services like the navigation app you are curently using, the image that is uploading in the background or the music that is playing .. stuff without a visible UI (except for a notification so you know what is going on). All important but not the main thing displayed right now.

You also need to throttle the CPU when the phone runs too hot.

But not run it at minimum speed either because it would make everything laggy.

Also, if you pick up your phone out of your pocket, it automatically wakes up and increase CPU frequency because it is likely you are going to use it.

Etc ..

This is very complex problem, it is ok to let a machine balance this for us.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#252

Post by on_and_off »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #75

Surprised not to see mention of the cutout stuff yet. It seems pretty dumb to me that Google is jumping on board with this ridiculous feature. Maybe this'll be one of those Dropbox-style HN comments which in hindsight looks misled, but I honestly can't find any redeeming factors to the cutout idea.

The essential added first it and it was ok to do not have an API for it since it was a very small cutout.

But now that Apple has sadly made cutouts ok, OEMs are going to implement them whether we like them or not.

I really hope that they are a fad that dies in a quick although very painful fire BUT right now Google needs to add support for it.

Which they did.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#253

Post by on_and_off »

lgleason wrote: post #107

Funny. My Essential already has the update, but my pixel doesn't. Go figure...

My pixel 2 sees it.

I strongly suspect that this is a gradual rollout. Maybe that force checking if an update is available allows to force enroll ? that's how I saw the update and I now that Google has moved in this direction for the most impatient users.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#254

Post by 0x00000000 »

halflings wrote: post #223
ythn wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh, I want to be optimistic, but I think this feature is going to suck and here's why: I use snapchat, but I actually hate the app. It's a bloated memory and battery hog in my opinion. Is Adaptive Battery going to think I love Snapchat and prioritize more system resources for it just because I use it? Cause I want the exact opposite to happen. I want Snapchat using 0% of my system resources except for the few times…

First, one thing: the people working on these projects are not dumb. They are not going to launch a feature that simply does not work. These teams run experiments and confirm that the feature actually does what it's supposed to do (e.g improve battery life) before launching them in production. It sounds like this feature is exactly made for cases like the one you describe: if you don't use Snapchat throughout the day…

Yet I get ads for something I bought weeks ago, I get ads saying "sign up for Facebook" even though I'm logged in on the very same phone, and Facebook's "advertising profile" is completely backwards for my political views. When I accidentally click a certain type of YouTube video my recommend fills up with that type of video even if I watched it for 5 seconds. Same with Amazon recommended.

In my experience, "personalized recommendations" are universally trash

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#256

Post by adrianmalacoda »

creatornator wrote: post #143
DennisAleynikov wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right Google no longer has the trust it used to enjoy. So many apps have been uploading entire call logs and it's really absurd this was so easiy accessible to all apps.

Android may have always been available at no cost, but it was never free. Always assume if you are given a service gratis, that _you_ are the product being sold. This doesn't just apply to Android, but to gmail, Drive, Docs, etc.

Free (Libre) Software is very often gratis as well, and generally breaks the "if you're not the customer..." rule. In the case of Android, there are community-maintained forks that do not include any of the Google stuff.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#257

Post by vagab0nd »

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.

> Shutting mic, camera and sensor data off for idle/background apps is neat, though I'm shocked that wasn't an option before.

What do I do now if I want a skype or wechat voice call in the background while using the phone normally?

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#258

Post by 51Cards »

Fnoord wrote: post #231
51Cards wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This link displays it best: https://www.techradar.com/news/android-p-only-has-space-for-... In short there is a 4 notification icon limit now with the clock on the left, whether you have a notch or not. I often have a lot more than 4 notification icons up (esp since a couple are permanent from background apps) and the rest will just disappear under a dot-dot icon.

Wait. Everything has notch support, even if the device doesn't have a notch? That's odd, right? Given the notch is still an exception? Although they could make the status icons (top) tilt 90 degrees so they are usable from within landscape yet remain on their position

Yep, seems the compromises they have made for notches are global across all devices which to me is a UI mistake.

Re: Introducing Android 9 Pie

#260

Post by knocte »

littleweep wrote: post #222
DennisAleynikov wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right Google no longer has the trust it used to enjoy. So many apps have been uploading entire call logs and it's really absurd this was so easiy accessible to all apps.

It's the only reason stopping me from getting an Android phone. I think Apple is better on privacy.

Haha, but in Apple case, you can't even see the code, dude.
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