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Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

android-developers.blogspot.com

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Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#111

Post by Navarr »

GrinningFool wrote: post #9
Ologn wrote: post #7

> Multi-Window support lets users run two apps at the same time (click the Multi-Window support link) > If your app targets API level 23 or lower and the user attempts to use the app in multi-window mode, the system forcibly resizes the app unless the app declares a fixed orientation. > If your app does not declare a fixed orientation, you should launch your app on a device running Android 7.0 or higher and attempt t…

My uninformed guess would say that a sampling of a significant number of apps showed that they rendered fine, and they deemed it worth the trade-off that some may not. The logic probably went along the lines of: it's better for the user to have this feature that works with X% of what they already have installed than to force them to wait for the developers of each and every app to decide if/when they want to get arou…

If I recall, it also displays a simple toast for apps that do not target the API, saying "App may not work with split screen"

This also lets the user know it's not the Apps fault. I feel it's a pretty good way to enhance the experience where possible and move apps forward even if they're old.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#112

Post by ConroyBumpus »

pasbesoin wrote: post #94
helloworld wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, no update for the Nexus 7 (2013) tablet: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/08/android-nougat-drops-... [I]t's too bad that the support lifecycle of the most consistently updated Android devices is so much shorter than what Apple achieves with iOS, especially since the hardware should still be more than capable of supporting Nougat.

My 2013 Nexus 7 is perfectly fine... except for now being left behind, software-wise. I bought once / as soon as I learned that its successor had not been worth waiting for. So, I got significantly less than 3 years out of it. Would have bought the successor, except... Guess I'll be rooting it. And buying Apple, next time.

Things are tough all over.

Signed, person that bought a first generation iPad.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#113

Post by tdkl »

benzor wrote: post #41
primo44 wrote: post #35

No Android 7 on my Nexus 5 might just be what pushes me to iOS. I've gone from being an Android evangelist to being an Android apologist ("Yeah, battery life sucks. Google has failed to fix it after X years") to now being, frankly, pissed off that my expensive phone is going to be left behind.

FWIW, I've deliberately kept my Nexus 5 on Android 4.4.4 and it runs as well as the first day I bought it 2.5 years ago. Multi-day battery life, no compatibility issues (because no OS updates), all the latest apps still run on it, etc. Not to mention it was an affordable phone even when it was brand new. Very happy with it overall; I can easily see it lasting me another few years.

Classic "don't fix it if it ain't broken". How have you manage to disable the System update annoyance ?

Shitty Lollipop made me sell the Nexus 5 last year with its bad battery life and memory leak (and they still didn't fix the mobile radio wakelock), but when downgrading to 4.4 it was next to impossible to block the notification. I remember methods used at time just caused the Google Play Services to hold the wakelock, since the update checker became a part of it.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#114

Post by 72deluxe »

tdkl wrote: post #109
adamors wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone SE is similarly priced and iOS devices receive updates for more than 3 years. iPhone 5 for instance got and runs fine iOS 9, 4 years after release.

> Phone 5 for instance got and runs fine iOS 9 It runs, but far from fine compared to iOS it shipped with with basically no added value.

Security updates ===== no added value?

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#115

Post by drusepth »

adamors wrote: post #62
luma wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my expensive phone is going to be left behind. You bought a $350 phone and received updates for 3 years. I think you're in for a surprise when you price out a new iPhone.

The iPhone SE is similarly priced and iOS devices receive updates for more than 3 years. iPhone 5 for instance got and runs fine iOS 9, 4 years after release.

iOS 9 runs hilariously badly on the iPhone 5.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#116

Post by pjmlp »

Maultasche wrote: post #56
benzor wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I've deliberately kept my Nexus 5 on Android 4.4.4 and it runs as well as the first day I bought it 2.5 years ago. Multi-day battery life, no compatibility issues (because no OS updates), all the latest apps still run on it, etc. Not to mention it was an affordable phone even when it was brand new. Very happy with it overall; I can easily see it lasting me another few years.

There has to be some nasty security vulnerabilities lurking on that phone. There have been a lot of security patches to Android over the past 2.5 years to fix various exploits. I'm sure it does run great, but I would personally be uncomfortable missing out on so many security fixes. I don't pay a lot of attention to the Android OS, but I do recall there was a nasty exploit discovered about a year ago (called Stagefri…

And almost no one got those updates other than Nexus and a few high cost mobiles.

I can still buy 4.4 phones as new on my city.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#117

Post by vetinari »

david-given wrote: post #64
benzor wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I've deliberately kept my Nexus 5 on Android 4.4.4 and it runs as well as the first day I bought it 2.5 years ago. Multi-day battery life, no compatibility issues (because no OS updates), all the latest apps still run on it, etc. Not to mention it was an affordable phone even when it was brand new. Very happy with it overall; I can easily see it lasting me another few years.

I have an Android ADP1 --- one of the original development phones, the HTC Dream with the custom paint job. It's got 192MB of RAM and a single-core 528MB ARM11. It ran Cupcake, aka Android 1.5 (although I've since upgraded it to, If you ignore the hilarious security bugs --- like the fact that, as shipped, they forgot to disconnect the keyboard from a root shell, so that if you typed 'reboot' into an email hilarious…

I also had ADP1 - and I think that the latest official update was to Donut, aka Android 1.6.

Not that it matters much today...

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#118

Post by desas »

wastedhours wrote: post #50
jonesetc wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll be a bummer not using latest android for the first time in many years (HTC G2 -> Nexus 4 -> Nexus 5), but I really can't imagine anything compelling me to pay hundreds of dollars for a new phone for a couple more years. The Nexus 5 has been practically the perfect phone for me.

I'd agree - however after nearly 3 years the speakers on my N5 are nigh on unusable (phonecalls are only really possible with a headset or loudspeaker), the power cable refuses to stay put and tries to make a break for it every 5 minutes, and there's still an annoying bug where the screen is flaky/unresponsive when it is finally plugged in. Not sad about missing out on Nougat at the moment, but the sheer number of N5…

I have the exact same issues with my N5. I think I'll have to get myself a headset rather than shouting down the speaker phone.

I'll feel sad not to be on the leading edge for the first time in years (had Nexus 4 before)

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#119

Post by threeseed »

datguacdoh wrote: post #40
wlesieutre wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not really surprising given the device's age Nexus 5 released late 2013, last major OS update in late 2015. Compare to the iPhone 4S, which came out late 2011 and still got iOS 9 (4 years later). Really not buying the "two years is plenty of updates" excuse, especially from the Nexus line.

Not entirely fair comparison since the 4S didn't get every feature; it was a paired down version. AFAIK, Google doesn't cherrypick features for older hardware - it's all our nothing. Also, the 4S ran terribly on ios9, to the point that two of my friends with 4S's just gave in and bought new iphones instead.

Comments like this are ridiculous. It wasn't a pared down operating system by any definition. Features just weren't available if you didn't have the requisite hardware.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#120

Post by 72deluxe »

digi_owl wrote: post #83
chrisrhoden wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your app doesn't work on smaller screens or in landscape, you should be declaring that. Otherwise, your app is probably already running on devices with tiny, landscape screens and giving users the same experience as those with larger split screens.

Yeah if people have followed the UI guidelines for Android that has existed since day one, their app will have the required resources for Android to resize and reshape it to fit whatever screen shape the split view will create.

Sadly the way you do things has changed since then though. I remember doing android development in the 2.3.1 days, and the method of doing dialogs has transformed into fragments since then, so although my old code I wrote back then will run and work, it isn't the recommended way. Nor are the UI guidelines I followed back then.

I appreciate that things change (like the UI guidelines every year apparently!!) but if a clear roadmap was laid out back then, it would have saved a lot of time.

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