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One thing that you have to respect about Google and Android, like a constantly changing (dare we say gentrifying and revitalizing) urban neighborhood - they are
by wallflower 12y ago
One thing that you have to respect about Google and Android, like a constantly changing (dare we say gentrifying and revitalizing) urban neighborhood - they aren't afraid to try new things, tear down old things, invest, and divest.
John Gruber had a much favorited tweet during WWDC that he revisited in his blog.
"Microsoft: one OS for all devices.
Apple: one continuous experience across all devices.
That tweet was massively popular,1 but I missed a word: across all Apple devices. Microsoft and Google are the ones who are more similarly focused. Microsoft wants you to run Windows on all your devices, from phones to tablets to PCs. Google wants you signed into Google services on all your devices, from phones to tablets to PCs."
http://daringfireball.net/2014/06/only_apple http://daringfireball.net/2014/06/only_apple
- Zigurd 12y agoThe article is much about look and not enough about what makes Android different. The two biggest changes in Android were the Fragment class and a greater emphasis on multiple layouts to scale UIs across many screen geometries, and Google Play Services. Outwardly, Android looks much much prettier. But it's the same Home app, with an evolved but fundamentally the same AppWidget architecture under that prettier face. Android's core features, like AIDL-based IPC, Intent and filters for Intent types, and ContentProvider have been remarkably stable and constant. And they have been under-appreciated and under-exploited, with the exception of ACTION_SEND intents for the "Share" menu. Too few apps expose an API or expose their data through a ContentProvider. Too few apps provide Intent matching for actions other than ACTION_SEND.