5 ms·

As an Android dev I can tell you this isn't happening in the next 5 years. They may add Chrome apps to Android, but it will be a niche option that won't be used

As an Android dev I can tell you this isn't happening in the next 5 years. They may add Chrome apps to Android, but it will be a niche option that won't be used by anybody. My utopic wish is a new open platform that will combine strengths of the web and of operating systems (Windows, Android): - Web: Great for documents, which it was originally designed for. Automatic updates. No installation. You can "fork" an app / document by middle clicking a link. - Operating systems: Great for apps. Speed. More low level access to the hardware. Much richer platform than the web (window mnagment, human interface guidelines, ...).

untog 13y ago
Why, as an Android dev, do you say that?
- RivieraKid 13y ago
  Because, as an Android dev, I understand that both platforms have different strengths. Merge of the android and chrome/web platform, that would keep the strenths of both, is basically impossible. So the only possible scenario is making interative improvements to the chrome/web platform. But: 1) That would break backwards compatibility with Android apps. They would basically have to kill Android and replace it with Chrome OS Mobile. 2) Chrome OS platform is far, far behind Android (and operating systems in general) in many aspects.
  - untog 13y ago
    Merge of the android and chrome/web platform, that would keep the strenths of both, is basically impossible. Why do you say that? Add some APIs to the Android browser, allow it to open apps full-screen... there doesn't seem to be much more to it than that.
    - RivieraKid 13y ago
      They would basically need to recreate the Android API in the browser if they wanted Chrome apps to be as good as native Android apps. So Chrome OS would become a virtual machine emulating the Android platform. Right now, it's quite easy to package a web app into an Android app. But users generally dislike that.
    - fidotron 13y ago
      That's really not too different from what it takes to package HTML5 code into Android apps already, with the same result of apps with UIs that feel foreign to the system. The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. Quite honestly the Chrome Mobile team are swimming against the tide on this.
      - untog 13y ago
        The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. I'd argue that is because the functionality isn't there to make it competitive. So the Chrome Mobile team isn't really swimming against the tide, they're... whatever you do when you put things in the sea to adjust tidal flow. Mozilla, too. I have a Firefox OS phone on my desk and while it's far from ready for end users, it is an impressive showcase of what you can achieve with HTML.
        kllrnohj 13y ago
        > it is an impressive showcase of what you can achieve with HTML. That statement right there is the single biggest problem that web faces. You still have to qualify it with impressive for HTML. Because the bar for HTML is just so, sooooo low compared to native. On desktop it kind of works because performance really isn't a problem - you've got boatloads of CPU & RAM to just throw at it and nobody expects 60fps. On mobile it's the exact opposite. Web isn't a viable platform for app development until people start saying "that's impressive" without the "for HTML" qualifier. And that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
      - jonknee 13y ago
        > The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. Quite honestly the Chrome Mobile team are swimming against the tide on this. That's quite a statement. The average Android app is already a UI nightmare that feels foreign to the system, I don't see how HTML is going to be somehow worse (especially when there would be a full set of HTML5 components to use).
        coldtea 13y ago
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
alexbell 13y ago
Why not? What if the apps are purchased seamlessly through the play store and can run on Android or in Chrome? I have a feeling they will add more and more Android device APIs to whatever is coming, until it has just as many as the Java APIs. I've thought for the past year or so that there is no way the future of Android app development is Java/Dalvik.
- RivieraKid 13y ago
  That's possible today - there are apps, that are basically web apps. But they usually offer inferior user experience. It's cheaper, but for the price of being worse than a native app. It's possible they will add support for other languages besides Java. Android is stuck with Java 6, which sucks...
  - alexbell 13y ago
    That language will be web, I suspect. Perhaps Google will offer prerolled components specifically for Android? I strongly suspect that Chrome is the platform Google wants to push for client development now, with Android essentially as a shell for it. While web may arguably be "worse" on Android now, Google has a very large, talented engineering team who could change that relatively fast. Java is a dead end at this point for them I think as far as pushing client development forward. My personal preference would be Android development via Go lang, but I don't think there's much of a chance of that. I am not a web developer BTW, I am primarily an iOS dev who has done ~6 months of Android work.
    - RivieraKid 13y ago
      Web is a platform, so they would need to rewrite half of Android, I don't think it would be worth it, I don't see real benefits of that for users or devs... I think that Java 8 is a great language, I like it a lot more than Javascript. Go would be great too.
      - eropple 13y ago
        In all seriousness, I just want a C API. I like different languages for different purposes, but C is still the lingua franca. You can have your Go, I can have my C++, the next guy can have his Python. As-is, native code on Android is a cluster, and even for games it's pretty uncomfortable and filled with Java shims. Kinda gross.
zeckalpha 13y ago
That sounds like Firefox OS.
rorrr2 13y ago
There are thousands of PhoneGap apps out there, pretty much disproving your point.
- RivieraKid 13y ago
  Yes, but they suck.

untog 13y ago

Why, as an Android dev, do you say that?

RivieraKid 13y ago
Because, as an Android dev, I understand that both platforms have different strengths. Merge of the android and chrome/web platform, that would keep the strenths of both, is basically impossible. So the only possible scenario is making interative improvements to the chrome/web platform. But: 1) That would break backwards compatibility with Android apps. They would basically have to kill Android and replace it with Chrome OS Mobile. 2) Chrome OS platform is far, far behind Android (and operating systems in general) in many aspects.
- untog 13y ago
  Merge of the android and chrome/web platform, that would keep the strenths of both, is basically impossible. Why do you say that? Add some APIs to the Android browser, allow it to open apps full-screen... there doesn't seem to be much more to it than that.
  - RivieraKid 13y ago
    They would basically need to recreate the Android API in the browser if they wanted Chrome apps to be as good as native Android apps. So Chrome OS would become a virtual machine emulating the Android platform. Right now, it's quite easy to package a web app into an Android app. But users generally dislike that.
  - fidotron 13y ago
    That's really not too different from what it takes to package HTML5 code into Android apps already, with the same result of apps with UIs that feel foreign to the system. The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. Quite honestly the Chrome Mobile team are swimming against the tide on this.
    - untog 13y ago
      The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. I'd argue that is because the functionality isn't there to make it competitive. So the Chrome Mobile team isn't really swimming against the tide, they're... whatever you do when you put things in the sea to adjust tidal flow. Mozilla, too. I have a Firefox OS phone on my desk and while it's far from ready for end users, it is an impressive showcase of what you can achieve with HTML.
      - kllrnohj 13y ago
        > it is an impressive showcase of what you can achieve with HTML. That statement right there is the single biggest problem that web faces. You still have to qualify it with impressive for HTML. Because the bar for HTML is just so, sooooo low compared to native. On desktop it kind of works because performance really isn't a problem - you've got boatloads of CPU & RAM to just throw at it and nobody expects 60fps. On mobile it's the exact opposite. Web isn't a viable platform for app development until people start saying "that's impressive" without the "for HTML" qualifier. And that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
    - jonknee 13y ago
      > The trend is not towards HTML5, but actually away from it. Quite honestly the Chrome Mobile team are swimming against the tide on this. That's quite a statement. The average Android app is already a UI nightmare that feels foreign to the system, I don't see how HTML is going to be somehow worse (especially when there would be a full set of HTML5 components to use).
      - coldtea 13y ago
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

alexbell 13y ago

Why not? What if the apps are purchased seamlessly through the play store and can run on Android or in Chrome? I have a feeling they will add more and more Android device APIs to whatever is coming, until it has just as many as the Java APIs. I've thought for the past year or so that there is no way the future of Android app development is Java/Dalvik.

RivieraKid 13y ago
That's possible today - there are apps, that are basically web apps. But they usually offer inferior user experience. It's cheaper, but for the price of being worse than a native app. It's possible they will add support for other languages besides Java. Android is stuck with Java 6, which sucks...
- alexbell 13y ago
  That language will be web, I suspect. Perhaps Google will offer prerolled components specifically for Android? I strongly suspect that Chrome is the platform Google wants to push for client development now, with Android essentially as a shell for it. While web may arguably be "worse" on Android now, Google has a very large, talented engineering team who could change that relatively fast. Java is a dead end at this point for them I think as far as pushing client development forward. My personal preference would be Android development via Go lang, but I don't think there's much of a chance of that. I am not a web developer BTW, I am primarily an iOS dev who has done ~6 months of Android work.
  - RivieraKid 13y ago
    Web is a platform, so they would need to rewrite half of Android, I don't think it would be worth it, I don't see real benefits of that for users or devs... I think that Java 8 is a great language, I like it a lot more than Javascript. Go would be great too.
    - eropple 13y ago
      In all seriousness, I just want a C API. I like different languages for different purposes, but C is still the lingua franca. You can have your Go, I can have my C++, the next guy can have his Python. As-is, native code on Android is a cluster, and even for games it's pretty uncomfortable and filled with Java shims. Kinda gross.

zeckalpha 13y ago

That sounds like Firefox OS.

rorrr2 13y ago

There are thousands of PhoneGap apps out there, pretty much disproving your point.

RivieraKid 13y ago
Yes, but they suck.