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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

#151
post #34
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a sampling of a significant number of apps showed that they rendered fine The problem is they break the API all the time, and this leaves Google Play strewn with broken apps. This may break 1% of apps, the next release breaks another 1%, after 10 releases, 10% of the apps not updated are broken. Here's an example, I go to Google Play and search for "ringtone maker" ( https://play.google.com/store/search?q=ringtone%…

How is the split screen breaking the API when the app works like ever has worked in the main screen?

> the app works like ever has worked in the main screen

If the app always works like it ever has worked in the main screen, why do they say:

> 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 to put the app in split-screen mode. Verify that the user experience is acceptable when the app is forcibly resized.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#152
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really surprising given the device's age, but still disappointing given the presumably rather large number of Nexus 5 still in use. The bigger story may be the inability to come up with a compelling reason for N5 users to upgrade, other than getting the latest OS revision. The N5's compactness in particular makes the 5X (and the impending successor, codenamed "Sailfish") a tough sell.

> 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.

You're getting more than two years of updates. There's another year of security updates, plus at least two years (probably more given historical trends) of system-level app updates ( Google Play Services, Chrome, WebView, Play Store, ...) that only come via OS updates on iOS. Not to mention Google providing compatibility libraries so that third-party apps are significantly less likely to leave you behind.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Second, mobile Doze apparently doesn't stop all background tasks except "Google services" from running, since "wake locks" from apps for background tasks are still supported. Except a Wake Lock has a significant battery impact, causing the CPU to stay on at all times. There’s no way to keep your app running while also saving battery – which is the general ideal you want. So, tell me, how do I keep a socket open wit…

There's a pretty big difference between "no background tasks will be run except Google services" and "the options for background tasks are more restricted than in previous Android releases". The second is indisputably true of Nougat, no one is arguing against it; the first is what you said upthread, what I was arguing against, and what is and remains false.

It is basically only Google, though, because the only way to keep something running is with a severe penalty, and the user is kept directly notified about that.

In previous dev versions, Google even didn’t allow wake locks at all (which is where my confusion is from), saying devs should instead move all their processing to server side, and use GCM for everything.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#154
post #6

Just a shout-out to the fine folks over at CopperheadOS[0]who have been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes hardening in Android over the last year[1]. If you have a Nexus device and don't care much for the Play Store applications (F-Droid is included) give it a go for a true AOSP experience. The only apps I'm really missing are Tasker and Signal, but I have a second phone for those. 0: https://copperhead.co/android/ 1:…

I been ran CM on a Nexus 5 some years ago, but since they quit releasing stables I left (the nightlies really weren't stable).

Now I have a 5X. Is the latest version available on the Copperhead site for that phone "based on Nougat"?

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#155
post #104
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Battery life on my Nexus 6P is just fine, at least equal to my friends with their iPhone 6 Pluses. My Note 4 also had solid battery life before that. For the most part, modern Android phones are much better than their predecessors in terms of battery. The UX is also quite nice as well.

My Nexus5 has great battery till I use it like my iPhone. Video, LTE, Webex? Lasts maybe a half hour under duress. This was the case from day one, which is why it never became my daily driver. Good to keep up on what's going on with Android, though.

I had a Nexus 5 as well. Big improvements with the jump up to the 5X. I'd hope that this year's model will continue the trend.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#156
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The alternative is the iOS update process, which has the result of non-techies complaining that their iPhone 4 is now slow after the update, and the techies they know pleading with them not to update even though the number gets bigger.

Another alternative would be to keep releasing security updates. If open source projects can manage more than three years support, it's not out of the question for Google to do it, at least for the major versions.

I'm using a Galaxy Note 3 with CyanogenMod 12.1 (Lollipop) and I get each month's security updates. So it appears as though Google does release security updates for existing major versions.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. I switched back to an iPhone from Lollipop earlier this year, and the difference in battery life is staggering, even though the iPhone has a smaller battery than the Android phone I used to have. I'm glad that Google has signaled that they are going to further tighten the restrictions on background app activities in future releases. I hope they follow through with it.

It's a trade-off. I hate that on iOS I have to have location services ON in order for, say, owncloud to back up my photos in the background. On Android, it just works in the background like it should. Sure, iOS saves on battery because of this, but I strongly feel I should have a say in this as a user. Some apps really should be allowed to run in the background.

Except everyone misuses such a thing, privacy gets violated, often don't test well for battery in many different conditions, and then users end up with a shit experience yet don't have the technical expertise to understand why (or which app is causing the problem). Android is particularly difficult since you can have a service running without an app present, so disabling it isn't very intuitive.

I think Apple has done a better job at this balance by not letting people shoot themselves in the foot at the cost the odd useful service not being possible.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not everything was hardware related, or at least not obviously hardware related. My friends both really wanted public transit directions in maps and airdrop but neither feature shipped on the 4S. I also seem to remember that predictive Siri (Google Now-ish competitor, don't remember what they called that) didn't make it to the 4S.

So I do commend apple for getting updates to that device for 4 years, but at least in their experience, it made the phone worse and didn't bring all the features that they wanted.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#160

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.

That's mostly true, but not entirely. When Google released OpenGL 3.0 and 3.1, older Nexus devices couldn't get that.
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