by Sharan NairEstimated reading time: 3 minute(s)
The world has always been highly competitive, now what with the digital age and information being easily available, the competition has accelerated far beyond our expectations and it is therefore critical for businesses to cut costs and develop hybrid/cross-platform applications which make their businesses more accessible to the discerning consumer and to perennially stay ahead of the game.
In addition to the highly competitive landscape that a developer and an end-user has to contend with, the key to note is the evolution of Android from a simple OS for smartphones to its capacity in powering many other devices. The point is, we know what to anticipate, and you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve picked out the latest news on what we can expect in the Android arena.
Swift
Introduced at Apple’s WWDC 2014, and picking up support from major and new establishments like IBM, Lyft, Pixelmator, and Vimeo, Swift has been swiftly (pardon thy cheek) garnering favour among developers because it’s an easy-to-write language that has none of the superfluous and (arguably) clumsy natures that other languages possess.
In making the language open source, Apple seems to want everyone to use the language, has made it easy with its core being capable of seeing integration into just about any system without having to navigate through a series of hoops. Google’s Android operating system as of now, supports Java as its first-class language, but Swift apparently has the potential of having a broader ‘upside’ than Java, and Swift being open source would mean that Google could actually reign it in without seeing a need to make modifications to its own open-source mobile infrastructure.
Android Pay APIs
The developer community at large will be able to rejoice at the news that it will now be easier than ever to integrate with Android Pay, as a result of Android’s APIs being enhanced. The key goal here: with the premise of just a few lines of code, one should be able to easily facilitate seamless checkout in the view of increasing purchase conversions and encouraging engagement with consumers.
Establishments like Airbnb, Yelp, Kickstarter, Ticketmaster, Uber, and countless others have paid testament to the new ease in payment checkouts. This coincides with the introduction of Android Instant Apps, which users will find that they will be able to make payments via Android Pay via a solitary click, no longer needing to install the app just to make a transaction, which is supposed to be easy anyway.
Project Ara
Liked lego bricks a lot when you were young and impressionable? Well, Google wants to make smartphones of the future have the capacity for unprecedented customization. After some news about this roughly a couple of years ago, Google is now saying that this project, named Project Ara, might take off sometime next year.
What does it promise? Like being able to swap out your delirious camera for a better one instead of purchasing an entirely new phone just because you hate the guts of one particular feature. Isn’t that the case for every single handphone you’ve purchased? There is always that one feature that irks you or you feel could have been designed better. While some parts may be off-limits for customization, like the processor (needless to say), these Ara phones will be heralding a new age in smartphone perfection.
and yonder.
The recent Google I/O will have caused many a drool to take form, what with Daydream VR, new messaging apps, the premise of a new computer ‘assistant’, and a new version of Android Studio (for developers) all being announced. So while Google has indulged in recaps of features we have already heard about, given us confirmation on some of the rumours that were going on for some time and thrown us a couple of curveballs, it’s always great to see that Google has spent some time on the big stage showing appreciation to all the developers out there who are and have been important to the Android ecosystem. Classy.
Photo: www.xda-developers.com