Energy Efficiency the Google Way
"Android is suddenly in a lot of trouble"
First, read the linked article.
Okay, good. So this probably isn’t news to anyone, but recently I made the switch from agency-side (What’s up, Wonderfactory!), to product-side (What’s up, Fitocracy!). It’s been a hugely enjoyable move, but that’s for a later post. One thing has been consistent across both: development always starts for iOS before Android.
“But Android has a bigger marketshare than iOS!!” We hear that a lot at Fitocracy, and we love Android (more than half the team has Android devices). So, why iOS first?
I never understood why you ‘couldn’t’ like the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Blur and Oasis. It always comes down to economics. If you’re an 11 year old kid whose saved up all their pennies from mowing lawns to buy one album, you’re going to spend some time evaluating both records.
The reality is a little more complex than simple activation numbers on devices (The metric that gets thrown round a lot in favour of Android). Back at The Wonderfactory we built apps for some of the biggest brands in the world. Our clients weren’t stupid (quite the opposite). They weren’t randomly deciding to develop for iOS because they were ‘fanbois’ . Every budget decision they make is based on calculated data. Site metrics. Testing. If they mess up, it’s on their shoulders and will be bad for their career and fortune of the company (same thing goes at Fitocracy). Obviously, people aren’t that cavalier. Informed decisions are made from data that suggests that people aren’t as willing to spend money on the Android platform as they are on iOS and that a large number of Android users might just be using their device as a replacement, non-smart, phone.
Hopefully, I don’t need to repeat all of the other reasons cited in the linked article. Businesses have limited budgets; you have to make decisions based on projected returns.
In short: you get to the other platforms as soon as it makes viable business sense.
One hour of video gets uploaded to YouTube every second of every day.
Search, plus Your World from Google.
Google Navigation
Google has updated it’s navigation menu from what was the fixed horizontal bar to what’s now a dropdown menu when hovering over the Google logo. This was most likely done for usability reasons, seeing as the average person focuses on left elements first which means it will now be a lot easier to get to common Google section. In terms of design, I would have preferred the menu to be completely white, I’m not sold on the heavy use of dark grey I think it’s detracting and at least should be toned down to a lighter grey.
Via adamhaider
Can’t make a decision? Introducing Schemer from Google.
Introducing Google Currents
The Reason Android is Laggy
An excellent read.
Andrew Munn, an engineering intern at Google, responding to this post by Dianne Hackborn, an Android Framework Engineer:
It’s not GC pauses. It’s not because Android runs bytecode and iOS runs native code. It’s because on iOS all UI rendering occurs in a dedicated UI thread with real-time priority. On the other hand, Android follows the traditional PC model of rendering occurring on the main thread with normal priority.
This is a not an abstract or academic difference. You can see it for yourself. Grab your closest iPad or iPhone and open Safari. Start loading a complex web page like Facebook. Half way through loading, put your finger on the screen and move it around. All rendering instantly stops. The website will literally never load until you remove your finger. This is because the UI thread is intercepting all events and rendering the UI at real-time priority.
Via chartier, Gina Trapani
I must have been sleeping. I completely missed Google’s redesign of the Chrome Store. Considerably more engaging than the version prior.
