Android Archive

Google is making Android a beautiful, dynamic scrapbook

Thom Holwerda 2014-07-03 Android 12 Comments

Google didn't spend enough time on Material Design during the keynote. We saw a beautiful video and learned a little bit about the intent and thought behind Google's new cross-platform look (which we actually saw a bit earlier than anticipated), but there's so much more to be said. Having attended as many design sessions as possible during I/O, I think it's worth taking a somewhat closer look at Material Design. In this post we'll attempt to scratch a little bit deeper into what Material means, why it's awesome, and why it's a forward-looking move for Google.

I personally really like this new design direction, but the big question is going to be whether or not third party developers will embrace it. I still see non-Holo applications today, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

Developers can’t update apps to Material Design just yet

Thom Holwerda 2014-07-02 Android 2 Comments

So yes, this story is pretty much an excuse to show off our fancy new Android story category (it's 2014. We thought it was time), but hey, it's still informative.

In case you've been wondering why you don't see many applications with Google's new Material Design just yet, it's because applications created with the Android L Preview SDK may not yet be submitted to the Google Play Store. In fact, said applications won't even run on non-Preview devices to begin with.

Alongside the release of the Android L Developer Preview images, Google also released the Android L Preview SDK. Using the L Preview SDK, developers are now able to make use of Theme.Material.* and give their applications this highly sought after theme. And in fact, this is only available when using the preview SDK. However, Google makes it very clear that applications created with the preview SDK should not be published to the Google Play Store.

It's pretty clear Material Design simply isn't done yet, and as such, Google has wisely decided to not let developers use it in the real world just yet.

Why I’m making the jump to Android

Adam Scheinberg 2014-06-12 Android 112 Comments

I am taking the plunge and moving from an iPhone to an Android device. I've been waiting a long time for Android to get to the point that it was fast and responsive enough, with a big enough application warehouse, wide enough support, and a smooth enough experience, to support me. Android is maturing with a consistent, system-wide look-and-feel, almost every major service now has an Android app as the counterpart to its iOS-first experience, and has a bright future with wearables, home automation, and more.

I certainly won't be the first person to change ecosystems entirely. Several have done it before, some looking for change or claim freedom, some aiming to save money, some because someone prompted them, some think they may be conforming by going with the ever-stylish Apple. I am doing it for this reason: for me, Android is now a better platform than iOS.