Report: Google will let devs A/B test Play Store listings, I/O announcement likely
Google is reportedly working on improving the Play Store experience, for users and developers alike.
An A/B testing feature for Play Store listings could be announced at Google I/O, according to The Information, citing developers who were briefed about the new feature. Developers will be able to create different versions of screenshots, videos, icons, and app description copy and run them in parallel to see which variant yields the best results. This isn’t a user-facing change, but it may ultimately improve the user experience by giving developers better insight into user preferences and habits.
Google is expected to showcase this feature at the I/O developer conference at the end of this month, according to The Information.
The report also hints to potential announcements related to app indexing, which is the ability to search through and go to specific “location” inside an app, as well as a way for users to try out certain features of an app without actually installing the full application. Unfortunately, there’s no hard info on these developments.
Android design guru Matias Duarte has hinted in the past that Google is thinking about unbundling apps into their basic features and making them available to users on demand. It remains to be seen if Google has anything to announce on this front at its developer conference. Google I/O is set to take place in San Francisco on May 28-29.
A/B testing may be on its way to the Google Play Store
A new report this morning indicates that Google plans to announce A/B testing within the Google Play Store for app developers. The announcement is scheduled to take place at the Google I/O conference at the end of the month. The idea is that developers could use the Play Store to do some market testing in an effort to increase the revenue generated by their apps.
With A/B testing, developers will be able to setup two different entries in the Play Store for their apps, an “A” and a “B” version. The app pages will be the same except for one item that developers could change. It could be something as simple as the icon used for the app or it could be something like two different prices being shown. Developers could then assess how the two versions perform to see whether a change they may be exploring will yield better results.
source: The Information
via: 9to5Google
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Google Hangouts Chrome app could be in line for a redesign
Google’s Hangouts app for Chrome, aka Ultraviolet, has been out for a little while now, but its little floating user interface hasn’t been a hit with everyone. According to an image spotted in Google’s issue tracker and reported by Caschy’s Blog, Google may be testing out a new interface for the app, see the image above.
The issue report has since been deleted, but the screenshot gives us a look at what we might expect in a future update. Although the color scheme remains traditional, there’s now two distinct panes. One for the current conversion and one for previous messages, as well as the now customary material design FAB for starting a new conversation. The “chat heads” style looks to be completely replaced by a more standard windowed interface. The redesign looks much more like its Android counterpart, although the call and message options have been moved to the bottom left of the screen.
Of course, we have no way of knowing if or when Google is planning to release an update for its Chrome Hangouts app. We might learn more at Google I/O, which is taking place at the end of the month.
Thoughts?
Microsoft disses Android: ‘Google ships a big pile of … Code’
Recently Microsoft has been making plenty of curious but welcome changes, including focusing a bit more on apps and services for competing mobile platforms and even for devices like Android Wear. We’ve also seen Office come to Android, and Microsoft is even (sort of) embracing Android code for easy conversion over to Windows 10.
Gone are the days of Scroogled, right? Maybe not.
Microsoft: Google ships a big pile of… Code, with no commitment to update your device
During Microsoft’s Ignite conference in Chicago yesterday, Windows chief Terry Myerson managed to get a little jab in at Google, stating that “Google ships a big pile of… Code, with no commitment to update your device”. Furthermore, the exec said, “Google takes no responsibility to update customer devices and refuses to take responsibility to update their devices, leaving end users and businesses increasingly exposed every day they use an Android device.”
Obviously the statement was meant to knock down the obvious giant in the mobile space and to play up how Windows 10 will (supposedly) be different. But is there any truth to Myerson’s words?
Is Google taking enough responsibility for device updates?
Just last night, Google revealed the latest distribution numbers for Android, showing that just slightly under 10% of users are on Lollipop, Meanwhile, the majority still cling to KitKat, followed by older versions like Jelly Bean. The numbers speak for themselves. Google and its partners don’t necessarily do much to ensure that devices are rocking the latest versions of the Google OS. Of course, that doesn’t mean “Google takes no responsibility to update your device”.
In recent years we’ve seen Google and even a number of OEMs push their apps onto Google Play, allowing them to quickly update services and functions without having to rely on traditional OTAs for the job. With Lollipop, Google also introduced a developer preview and seemingly has handed the code over to OEMs much faster in the past, resulting in speedier Lollipop updates (from some OEMs at least…) compared to KitKat and earlier Android builds.
In recent years we’ve seen Google and even a number of OEMs push their apps onto Google Play, allowing them to quickly update services and functions without having to rely on traditional OTAs
Bottom-line, Google might not have it all figured out when it comes to ensuring that consumers have the latest updates, but they are making moves in the right direction. For what’s worth, Microsoft is in a similar position. With the debut of Windows Phone 8, Microsoft completely left its Windows Phone 7 users out in the cold by offering no upgrade path forward. Additionally, many devices have been slow to push out Windows Phone 8.1 due to carrier issues — such as the Verizon Nokia Lumia Icon, which took much longer than it should have to get the newest version.
Just as we saw with Scroogled and Microsoft’s insinuation that Google is spying on us and selling our data, this is a case of Microsoft pointing out a competitor’s “flaw” in order to hide the fact it has much of the same problem. The big question is whether or not Windows 10 will meaningfully speed up update cycles and security enhancements in a way that Android hasn’t. Only time will tell for sure.
Android Lollipop is gaining more users as new flagships come out
It took a while for Android Lollipop to even get its own slice on the OS pie chart Google releases regularly, but it now seems to be steadily gaining popularity. According to the latest Android stats collected from April 28th to May 4th, nine percent of devices are now running Lollipop. While that’s still quite small, it’s almost double last month’s percentage (five percent). KitKat’s stat slid down to 39.8 percent from last month’s 41.4 percent, so a number of stragglers might have finally upgraded. However, we’re sure the new flagships that recently started shipping with Lollipop out of the box (such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge) helped boost the version’s usage. All the older versions’ percentage are slightly down from last month’s, as well, but Froyo’s impressively still hanging on at 0.3 percent.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Google
Via: Droid Life
Source: Android Developers
Google brings “Collections” to its G+ application
Google’s in the midst of pushing out an update for its official Google+ application via the Play Store. In terms of added functionality, this upgrade carries a handful of bug fixes as well as support for “Collections”, which allows users to group their posts by topic instead of posting at random.
In short, Collections allow you to do the following three main things:
- Create – Start collections for your interests. Post videos, photos, and more.
- Get Found – People can follow all of your public collections, or just the ones they like.
- Customize – Make your collection pop with custom names and cover photos and cover photos.
To install the update, simply open up the Play Store on your device, toggle the hamburger menu by swiping in from the left-hand side of the screen, select ‘My Apps’ and click on ‘Google+’. Next, hit the update button, and the application will instantly start to download and install the upgrade from the Google Play servers. Alternatively, you can scan the QR code below to initiate the procedure.
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Google announces aquisition of Timeful
Google has announced that it’s now acquired Timeful and is looking to bring more intelligent scheduling together with better organization methods to its range of productivity applications, such as Calendar, Drive and Gmail.
Here’s what Google had to say about Timeful’s integration with its software suite:
The Timeful team has built an impressive system that helps you organize your life by understanding your schedule, habits and needs. You can tell Timeful you want to exercise three times a week or that you need to call the bank by next Tuesday, and their system will make sure you get it done based on an understanding of both your schedule and your priorities. We’re excited about all the ways Timeful’s technology can be applied across products like Inbox, Calendar and beyond, so we can do more of the work for you and let you focus on being creative, having fun and spending time with the people you care about.
Obviously, we won’t see these changes right away, and many of them will take place behind the scenes, but it’s great to know that they’re on the way.
Source: Google
Come comment on this article: Google announces aquisition of Timeful
Google buys a firm that organizes your calendar around your life
Google has been striving for smarter apps that are built around the way you really live, and it’s reinforcing that today by acquiring Timeful. The startup built a system that organizes your calendar around both your schedule and your priorities. You can tell it how often you’d like to hit the gym, for example, and it will slot in those workouts based on when you’re actually going to be free. Google expects the technology to find its way into Calendar, Inbox “and beyond,” so don’t be surprised if these apps do a better job of adapting to your daily patterns in the near future.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google
Via: Reuters
Source: Official Gmail Blog, Timeful
Google+ launches Collections, a Pinterest-style sharing board
The new Collections tab on Google+ offers a way to organize and share your interests with other people on the network, a la the mother of all cutesy-sharing sites, Pinterest. You’re able to create a customized Collection about anything that you like (suggestions: Hello Kitty accessories, Harry Potter spells, summer books, League of Legends champions), complete with photos, videos, links and commentary. Fellow Google+ users are able to follow any Collection set to “public,” or you can start a private Collection and keep all of those adorable Hello Kitty backpacks and phone cases to yourself. The Collections feature is live for many users right now, and you should be able to find it in the dropdown tab on the left side of your very own Google+ page.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
Source: Google+ Collections
Google’s Dart on Android hopes to speed up apps and app development
Over in Google’s open source labs, some members of Chrome’s V8 Javascript team have been working on a new way of writing Android apps that will get the platform completely free of Java while providing improved speed and a closer connection with the Web. The Dart on Android project, which was given the project name Sky, could eventually be a replacement for the 20-year old Java programming language.
According to Dart’s team, one of the goals for the new platform is to crank up how fast an app can draw the screens viewed by a user. Currently most developers of highly graphical apps, games in particular, shoot for 60 frames per second (fps) so that the app appears smooth. This requires an app to refresh with a new screen every 16ms to avoid any “jank” or stutter.
The Dart team has set a goal of 120 fps and has created a demo that actually runs redraws of the screen at 1.2ms, well below the 8ms requirement for 120 fps. To achieve this, the team had to create APIs that keep the UI running smoothly despite any slow downs the main thread may be experiencing.
Along with speed improvements when in use, the Dart framework should also help accelerate app development and updates. The core for Dart comes from a web background, so code runs off HTTP servers. This makes apps platform agnostic, needing only a Dart VM to run, and updates can be achieved with a simple refresh. There is a downside to that though as Internet access must be available for an app to launch.
The project team has pushed out a Sky Framework that works with all Android APIs and privileges. Developers who want to experiment will find they have access to the full gamut of Material Design tools they are likely used to already.
On the downside, besides the always-on Internet connection that Dart currently requires, the requirement for web server connections and access to all system APIs and privileges raises some security concerns. The project team also notes that as the framework develops, backwards compatibility may be broken.
Click here to view the embedded video.
source: Ars Technica
Come comment on this article: Google’s Dart on Android hopes to speed up apps and app development
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