Google Acquires Android Performance Startup FlexyCore For A Reported $23 Million • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Acquires Android Performance Startup FlexyCore For A Reported $23 Million

#21

Post by pjmlp » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 3:58 PM UTC

Zigurd wrote: post #20

pjmlp wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why do native Objective-C/iOS and native .NET/WP 8.x apps work faster and more fluid than Android ones?

Mainly due to differences in multitasking. Android always enabled completely general multiprocessing and multithreading, initially at the expense of smooth visual effects, and Android was implemented on a variety of CPUs and GPUs. Secondarily, Android didn't used to have concurrent GC. Thirdly the animations were not tuned (q.v. Butter). Fourthly, the graphics stack was tuned to use more GPU-based operations as mobil…

> For that matter, Android didn't have low-latency audio until 4.2.

It still doesn't, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-ndk/qACobHa8...

Re: Google Acquires Android Performance Startup FlexyCore For A Reported $23 Million

#22

Post by Zigurd » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:38 PM UTC

pjmlp wrote: post #21

Zigurd wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mainly due to differences in multitasking. Android always enabled completely general multiprocessing and multithreading, initially at the expense of smooth visual effects, and Android was implemented on a variety of CPUs and GPUs. Secondarily, Android didn't used to have concurrent GC. Thirdly the animations were not tuned (q.v. Butter). Fourthly, the graphics stack was tuned to use more GPU-based operations as mobil…

> For that matter, Android didn't have low-latency audio until 4.2. It still doesn't, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-ndk/qACobHa8...

The person who posted that comment is behind the times re audio on Android.

Android can deliver very low audio latency and do it consistently, but the OEM has to test that their CPU power management and other kernel configurations have not screwed it up, and those tests are not baked into ACS.

The OEM should, at least, correctly use the feature flag for low-latency audio, leaving is off if they don't actually know. But specifying that flag in your manifest means your app loses access to devices where good enough is good enough.

Here is a low-latency polyphonic synth: https://code.google.com/p/music-synthesizer-for-android/

This synth was the test case for development of low-latency audio.

Re: Google Acquires Android Performance Startup FlexyCore For A Reported $23 Million

#23

Post by pjmlp » Fri, Oct 25, 2013, 9:32 AM UTC

Zigurd wrote: post #22

pjmlp wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For that matter, Android didn't have low-latency audio until 4.2. It still doesn't, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-ndk/qACobHa8...

The person who posted that comment is behind the times re audio on Android. Android can deliver very low audio latency and do it consistently, but the OEM has to test that their CPU power management and other kernel configurations have not screwed it up, and those tests are not baked into ACS. The OEM should, at least, correctly use the feature flag for low-latency audio, leaving is off if they don't actually know. B…

> The person who posted that comment is behind the times re audio on Android.

No, that person has real life experience what means to develop for Android while targeting the majority of devices available to consumers.

All your answers so far were very good and I appreciate the time you took to answer them.

However, those of us that target all three major mobile OS across multiple OEMs, have a different experience of what Android's performance on real devices looks like.

And to conclude this thread, Google agrees with us, otherwise they wouldn't have spent $23 Million buying FlexyCore if Android's performance on real devices was so good as you have been defending.