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Google's Android N OS Will Support Pressure-Sensitive Screens (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In the latest Developer Preview 2 of Android N, Google introduced new "Launcher shortcuts" to the beta OS. It allows developers to "define shortcuts which users can expose in the launcher to help them perform actions quicker." It's reminiscent of Apple's "3D Touch" feature found in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, which can allow for specific parts of an app to be displayed in a pop-up menu when users forcefully press on an icon or other miscellaneous piece of information developed with the feature.
As mentioned in Phandroid's report testing the "setDynamicShortcuts(List)" feature, Google offered four different scenarios where Launcher Shortcuts make sense: Navigating users to a particular location in a mapping app, sending messages to a friend in a communication app, playing the next episode of a TV show in a media app, or loading the last save point in a gaming app.
"Google says that the manufacturers who build Android devices wanted this use case addressed by the OS itself," according to The Verge, so that developers "can code for all Android devices instead of reinventing the pressure-sensitive wheel for each OEM."
As mentioned in Phandroid's report testing the "setDynamicShortcuts(List)" feature, Google offered four different scenarios where Launcher Shortcuts make sense: Navigating users to a particular location in a mapping app, sending messages to a friend in a communication app, playing the next episode of a TV show in a media app, or loading the last save point in a gaming app.
"Google says that the manufacturers who build Android devices wanted this use case addressed by the OS itself," according to The Verge, so that developers "can code for all Android devices instead of reinventing the pressure-sensitive wheel for each OEM."
"Google offered four different scenarios where Launcher Shortcuts make sense: Navigating users to a particular location in a mapping app, sending messages to a friend in a communication app, playing the next episode of a TV show in a media app, or loading the last save point in a gaming app."
How about a button that you can see, that does this stuff when you click it? None of these use-cases justify variable pressure sensitivity. Basically, drawing applications do, and that's about it. If this was actually somehow beneficial, we would've seen pressure-sensitive mouse buttons standardized two decades ago.
"Oh no... he found the
what the hard press does until you stumble across it. For our iOS app, we have great usage metrics for every action, and only a tiny portion of users use the 3D taps that we spent a ton of money and time adding to the app. Yes they'll become more useful as designers get better at creating useful features and as users become more acquainted with them, but they just aren't intuitive like dragging one finger to scroll or two fingers to zoom.
Capacitive touchscreens work great ... until they get wet. With the recent push by Samsung into the water-resistive phone/tablet market, I imagine we'll be seeing an Android device that works entirely underwater within 12 months. Imagine taking your phone into the surf or the pool. It's coming!
but google, i beg you: let rudimentary functions like opening a menu identical.
In the last 4 years if have seen more pointless UI changes on Mobile devices than i like
Thanks.
In what universe is supporting new hardware that becomes generally available "copying Apple"? Did Apple "copy Google" when they started supporting USB-C?
Capacitive input devices such as touchpad's and touchscreens have always been touch pressure sensitive. It's a very simple principle. The harder you press, the larger the contact area that your finger makes with the screen / touchpad. My PS2 / Serial interface'd ALPS Glidepoint from almost 20 years ago could do this.
I wonder why it's taken so long for someone to realise this could be useful as yet another input vector. I should add that the Glidepoint never used this for input, it just showed a bigger circle on the task tray icon the harder you pressed. My guess is that windows 95 didn't know how to deal with pressure, though things like paint shop pro did work with a pressure sensitive wacom tablet.
Maybe apple don't use this feature, maybe they use a strain gauge in the glass? That said a strain gauge wouldn't work too well at the edge of the screen.
Everybody copies ideas from everybody else in this industry. After realizing its initial implementation was complete garbage, Apple copied its multitasking UI from Windows Phone, they also copied Android's control and notification centers just as Android copied many paradigms from Apple's iOS. But really who gives a shit which company had it first? Are you that attached to the company that made the smartphone you are currently using that them being the first to implement something actually has some value to you?
So, Google is deciding to fix its past mistakes with not implementing multi-window, and now they're actually looking forward and supporting features that aren't in any existing phones. Great!
Maybe we'll see decent keyboard/mouse support next, given that there are already netbooks out there running Android.
I look forward to see how it goes. Thanks for the info. Hug, Allan http://www.geradordesenha.eu/
I go out of my way, particularly with games, to find Android apps that cost real money. I am not talking about large amounts, but I am always willing to pay $3-8 for a game that has real playability, a team of developers producing updates, over a 'free' game with microtransactions or annoying ad popups funding it.
There isn't really even a way that I can find to set the App Store to only show non-free games when you search.
Technically, Samsung did it first on a phone with their finger hover detection (AirView). The functionality is different, but the implementation is exactly the same - all that differs is the range of sensitivity.
2001 called and asked for their lame memes back
None. There are none.
Assuming that this is the same as 3D touch (which it looks to be), that is... well, at best 3D touch is a useless feature that doesn't work reliably and you can ignore. At worst, it's yet another overloaded function on an interface that gets in the way and causes problems.
It's a pity that phone / OS manufacturers are too busy focusing on silly gimmicks, instead of rock solid reliability, responsive UIs that don't require a ton of CPU / GPU power and longer battery life.
Samsung Galaxy S4 which demoed that feature was released on April 27, 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
IPh 6s was released on September 25, 2015, more than 2 years later.
I don't mind the idea as long as it can be globally disabled. I don't like the idea that if I'm particularly heavy handed one day I'll tap an icon expecting one action and find it does something different. Or I jab at it when I'm in a mood and again, different action.
And how does this help with discoverability? That seems to be going out of window of modern UIs. Want to delete something? Er, is it a swipe? A long tap? Could it now be a harder tap? Who knows - nothing in the UI to help.
Sigs are so 1990s. No way would I be seen dead with one.
But Fandroids would be the first to scream that Apple is copying Android if Google did it first. Both Apple and Google clearly get ideas from each other, the fanboi cult behavior exists on both sides and really just needs to stop. In this particular case, Apple beat Google to the punch - why didn't Google think of implementing this before, if it's such a commonplace technology? Apple was the one here to invest in it first, and see how the market responded. In other cases, Google was.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
This.
The only time it's really noteworthy is when there's hubris involved.
Company: (feature) is dumb. Nobody would ever want a phone with that.
Users: We're switching to your competitor because of (feature).
Company: (feature) is the future. Phones that don't have (feature) are dumb.
That doesn't appear to have happened in this case.
I don't like Google. Not really.
Why do Apple zealots always assume it's an either/or proposition?
If you choose to avoid Google, you can install the Amazon app store on an android device, or even sideload your own or whatever apps you like. It makes me like my Android phone and tablets a lot more than the iPod Touches that I've abandoned.
But what I said is still true. Apple could go away entirely without really having that great an effect on humanity. They produce boutique-class hardware, and nothing that isn't made somewhere else, almost without exception at a lower cost to the user. Google is somewhat the same but would have a somewhat greater effect on current human culture in general if it disappeared.
The Galaxy S7 Edge appears to already work under water
I'd be curious to know what kind of water that guy used. Distilled water is actually not very conductive. Salt water is. The phone might not work as well in something other than culinary water.
The fact that Galaxy S7 Edge worked at all underwater is impressive! The guy was able to swipe the screen with his finger, but I don't think it worked every time. I'd be interested in seeing a single-press test, and seeing if the phone can accurately locate the finger (XY) on the screen. Swiping is one thing, but if you can't press the visual buttons on the display, you're phone won't work under water.