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Android Go Will Make the Most Basic Phones Run Smoothly (cnet.com)
Entry-level phones may cost less than big hitters, but they come at the cost of space, speed and efficiency. Google's looking to change that with Android Go. From a report: Android Oreo (Go Edition) will launch tomorrow as part of the Android Oreo 8.1 rollout and all Android Oreo devices with 512MB to 1GB of memory will be optimised for Android Go. Google says this will allow them to function properly as smartphones while doubling their available storage space. The experience includes: An improved operating system with better performance, storage and security features; a new set of lighter Google apps, suitable for first-time web users; a Google Play store that highlights apps designed to work best on entry-level devices.
Even on a slow device, I'm the first...
...so are they going to back-port it to my 4-yo Samsung, so I can finally get an upgrade from Android 4.2?
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Will the low-end of Android Oreo smartphones be slower than the entry-level Android Go smartphones?
Why can't all phones run Android Go? Wouldn't it make all phones faster and make batteries last longer?
#DeleteFacebook
Why not make all Android faster.
Were your mobile ---c-o-m-p-u-t-e-r--- "device" actually programmable, then a community of enthusiasts would have already popped up to support you "ancient" technology.
I, for one, don't need whizbang graphics, or a UI designed to keep children mesmerized. My current phone's software takes up 11 GiB! Good GOD. Do you know how much you can do with that amount of space?! I don't need your silly animations, or your icons. Please. Just... just... Get out of my way!
As if developing for Android didn't suck enough already!
The last few phones I bought were "entry level", and one had 1Gb, the other three 2Gb, of RAM, and both of the latter had recent versions of Android so were capable of just adding the SD card storage to the internal space without the user having to manage where files go.
I think there's a case for making Android lighter in general, but aiming to support devices with half a gigabyte... who is making phones that poorly spec'd?
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
A cross between a horrible thieving mobile operating system and an irrelevant flavor of the month programming language invented as a pathetic effort to displace C? Never mind, I don't actually care in the slightest. Back to my Symbian phone. *Yawn*
How exactly does it plan to double storage? So if my phone has 32GB of storage space will it be increased to 64GB? Sounds almost magical.
The first computer I had with 512MB of RAM ran Windows 2000, StarOffice, Visual Studio, and Netscape Communicator, with WinAMP playing music in the background. It didn't run them all at the same time, but it typically had 2-3 of them running at once. The monitor was only 1024x768, and wasn't using a compositing windowing system so I realise the requirements for the graphics will be higher on a modern phone, but is 512MB really such a small amount for a device that's typically running a single user-facing application at any given time?
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
App developers will then forget these phones as priorities because their users aren't rolling in money. Updates to initially installed apps will bloat in size because of feature creep and device will run out of storage and become a paperweight. Happens to every entry level device sold with inadequate specs to shave off $5 from price, or for price differentiation to upsell pricier SKUs.
I don't have an "entry-level" phone, but can I have this anyways:
"...doubling their available storage space...better performance, storage and security features; a new set of lighter Google apps..."
Tired of these games.
I DON'T make it a habit of walking around with $500 or a Gold coin in my pocket all the time.
WHY would I wan't to carry a expensive very fragile thing around all the time?
Star Trek data pads are pretty much disposable no one gives a f*ck if they lose or break one, that is how phones should be!
What I can get for $300 is the most I will spend. If I break or lose it I won't need a grief counselor or a finance company to replace it.
... who are these freaks?
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
"Android Go Will Make the Most Basic Phones Run Smoothly"
So IOW it should have been name 'Android Run'.
1. Fancy graphics and compositing effects gobble up memory
2. Android is based on Java
3. It's up to the vendors to optimize the Linux kernel for their hardware, and I'm guessing they aren't doing that. I bet most still have a few virtual TTY consoles opening up that you'll never see
Isn't this what Android L was supposed to do?? Unify all the low spec devices out there? If my aging memory serves me correctly, they specifically mentioned 512Mb also as a target for minimum spec
How about they make this available to older phones like Nexus 4 and tablets like Nexus 7? Like someone else mentioned in the comments here, this throw away culture that makes (Android) phones and tablets outdated and not secure after 2-3 years (or less) is absolutely ridiculous and terrible.
No surprise there.
2GB isn't a whole lot of RAM for an android device in the mainstream usage. This should be an optional run mode across all devices. Also what happens as applications grow and increase memory usages over the years?
For example: My 2GB devices may have been more than enough RAM for the apps when I bought it. Now apps are using more and more RAM can't use it like I used to. Why shouldn't I be able to tell the apps to run the lower RAM usage versions?
No good deed goes unpunished.
My entire non-movie data is 190GB (mostly Windows backups): I don't watch movies on a 5-inch screen, so a 32GB TF card is plenty of space for the data I want on-the-go. Vendors and Google could improve speed by removing the crap-ware and spyware. Alas, 200 APIs is the price of plug-n-play hardware and software, with each API having a small cost. Google finally removing monolithic drivers, will allow more Android OS updates, at yet another efficiency cost.
No, my main issue is the touch-screen deactivating during an alarm, the music player, or mid phone-call. If the mouse and keyboard on my PC stopped working every time the audio sub-system engaged, several OEM vendors would be handing me a refund.
The situation is actually even better for embedded devices!
Once you have a device tree and the kernel includes the drivery, which for it to run the Linux kernel, is a must, you can *always* upgrade the kernel.
Unless they removed the code for the API that the driver needed. In which case you can still add it back in by making a patch from the commit and applying it in reverse. At worst you would have to write a small compatibility adapter to use old drivers with new APIs, like itâ(TM)s also done for binary blobs like the nvidia driver.
Not that it matters much though. You can just keep using the old kernel. User space has no notable problems working even with ancient (like 2.6) kernels. And security patches for newer kernels that patch an old feature will either work flawlessly witholder kernels too, or only require trivial modifications. And newer features will not be in the older kernel anyway.
Since half the point of a kernel is, to abstract the hardware away the user space does not care one bit.
Only software close to the system cares. But usually, you can, again, just use an older version of that library which is still supported by the newest version of the libraries above.
In my experience, embedded devices of today (which are, not just basically, full personal computers) can be kept up-to-date for 20 years, easily.
Just like important computers (government/military/banking/...) are sometimes kept going for over 40-50 years!
Only with open source software (including AOSP), of course.
And if that is overwhelming you, ask someone who actually uses computers (aka programs them), and not just apps that happen to use one internally.
Thanks for establishing that you are an "all you have to do is" moron who can't figure out that businesses are about profit, not giving away resources.
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
I didn't read your whole post, but just happened to glance at the end of your post and noticed your attempt to condescend after spouting your ignorance. "Go ask someone who programs ... " You truly are a special kind of stupid.
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Not just that. The more you post, the more you show that you are mentally retarded.
It is your funny overconfidence, and clearly emotional triggered knee-jerk aggression that gives it away.
You are a nice example of "If you are very very stupid, how could you possibly know that you are very very stupid?" ^^
The way one can tell, is from the confidence. The dumber somebody is, the lesa he can see all the errors and possibilities. Which makes it look like smooth sailing, and gives him way too mich confidence.
An intelligent person on the other hand, can see all his possible errors and imperfections, and hence is always rather insecure about his assumptions.
At least in the normal case. (A stupid person can still trust an evil smart person, and see the possibilities, by piggybacking on that intelligent person's views. But that only works in the case of blind trust [like belief].)
Not that I expect a very very stupid person to follow that.