Google I/O 2015 Megathread, Android M, Android Pay, Google Photos, Now, Cardboard and more

[DJSchmitty]

The lack of Nexus announcements bummed me out, but it's far to early anyways (shouldn't have gotten my hope's up).

[george357]

The lack of Nexus announcements bummed me out, but it's far to early anyways (shouldn't have gotten my hope's up).

I did the same thing I am trying to decide between the next google offering and the Note 5 but can't get any solid info on either. lol

[beebskadoo]

I'm running Android M on my Nexus 6 and I really like it so far. It's really about the little things at this point, small UI tweaks and some minor new features here and there like cool new animations. The new Photos application is awesome! The major things are still yet to be fully implemented like context specific Google Now and the Multiwindow support!

 

Exciting things to come!!!

[AlexGoesHigh]

I'm running Android M on my Nexus 6 and I really like it so far. It's really about the little things at this point, small UI tweaks and some minor new features here and there like cool new animations. The new Photos application is awesome! The major things are still yet to be fully implemented like context specific Google Now and the Multiwindow support!

 

Exciting things to come!!!

native multiwindows? THE GODS BE PRAISED!!!!

[beebskadoo]

native multiwindows? THE GODS BE PRAISED!!!!

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/376275-android-m-multiwindow-support-in-preview/

My thread that I made highlighting that. I will try to get it working on my Nexus 6!

[LAwLz]

Android M seems good so far, and I think it shows just how important it is to let OEMs make their own skins. A lot of the Android M stuff is stuff lifted from for example TouchWiz or other non-AOSP ROMs (new volume control, multi-window, fingerprint reader, app permissions etc).

 

 

Saw someone mention it earlier in the thread so I thought I'd just inform everyone that it even if Samsung didn't use the TouchWiz skin you would still not get updates instantly. A huge chunk of the development time is spent just making Android run on the specific hardware. For example in order to get features like taking still images while recording Samsung have to write low level code for that specific camera module and the specific ISP in the phone. There is A LOT of things going on behind the scenes when it comes to Android updates.

ARM just seems to be a pain in the ass to deal with in general and I am not sure why (even Microsoft couldn't get Windows Phone 8 out to all the Windows Phone 7 devices, probably because it required too much time and effort).

[beebskadoo]

Android M seems good so far, and I think it shows just how important it is to let OEMs make their own skins. A lot of the Android M stuff is stuff lifted from for example TouchWiz or other non-AOSP ROMs (new volume control, multi-window, fingerprint reader, app permissions etc).

 

 

Saw someone mention it earlier in the thread so I thought I'd just inform everyone that it even if Samsung didn't use the TouchWiz skin you would still not get updates instantly. A huge chunk of the development time is spent just making Android run on the specific hardware. For example in order to get features like taking still images while recording Samsung have to write low level code for that specific camera module and the specific ISP in the phone. There is A LOT of things going on behind the scenes when it comes to Android updates.

ARM just seems to be a pain in the ass to deal with in general and I am not sure why (even Microsoft couldn't get Windows Phone 8 out to all the Windows Phone 7 devices, probably because it required too much time and effort).

Users have spoken and manufacturers have heard them. This is why Samsung toned down their bloat and stupid features in their OS. People want simple things that work and I think Android M stock will be a big hit.

[AlexGoesHigh]

ARM just seems to be a pain in the ass to deal with in general and I am not sure why (even Microsoft couldn't get Windows Phone 8 out to all the Windows Phone 7 devices, probably because it required too much time and effort).

MS has said that wp7 devices got left out because they switched to NT from DOS kernel, probably that required so much re-engineering it wasn't worth the effort, also they have a white list of ARM SoC windows phone can run on, so it has to be that ARM is a bitch to program for, maybe due to the fact chip manufactures can make their own core design and not fully comply with the reference design of something like v7

[Crosseyed Sniper]

Where's Chromecast 2?

[beebskadoo]

Where's Chromecast 2?

What is the purpose?

If you want a better Chromecast device just get the Nexus Player.

 

In fact it's a pretty awesome device.

[Crosseyed Sniper]

What is the purpose?

If you want a better Chromecast device just get the Nexus Player.

 

In fact it's a pretty awesome device.

 

You're probably right about that. I am interested in seeing how they've improved the Chromecast, though.

[LAwLz]

MS has said that wp7 devices got left out because they switched to NT from DOS kernel, probably that required so much re-engineering it wasn't worth the effort, also they have a white list of ARM SoC windows phone can run on, so it has to be that ARM is a bitch to program for, maybe due to the fact chip manufactures can make their own core design and not fully comply with the reference design of something like v7

Yes I know they said it was because they switched kernel. The thing is that they put in all that work to make NT work on ARM anyway, since otherwise we wouldn't have Windows Phone 8 on any device.

So like I said, even Microsoft think that supporting older devices can be so challenging they just can't be bothered.

Apple seems to be the only one with a good track record of updates, and it's probably because they have so few devices to update.

I've tried to learn why x86 seems so excellent when it comes to updates but ARM is just a massive headache. Couldn't find anything though. I don't think it is because of custom designs because we have that on x86 as well (Bulldozer vs Sandy Bridge for example).

[SydneySideSteveSomewheres]

You're probably right about that. I am interested in seeing how they've improved the Chromecast, though.

 

Google needs to intergrate the new "Photos" app and "Drive" storage "Google+ photos" and multiple accounts into the Chromecast functionality (so that you can make use of the "Backdrop" function). With so many different places to store and display pictures across multiple devices a better management interface could be incorporated to at least enable platform sharing. Especially now with free digital image storage available, it would be concieveably easy to duplicate files across devices without trying just be selecting "auto-backup" on different devices with different Google accounts... :rolleyes: