It took 16 years for smartphone penetration to reach 1 billion people. Analysts believe it will take only 3 years to reach the next billion. The devices these consumers buy will be incredibly diverse, yet many will run on Android; a platform that now sees more than 1.5 million activations per day.
In this presentation, we explore the fascinating rise of Android around the globe. From dual SIM phones in Indonesia, to dual screen e-ink devices in Russia and crowd-sourced platform modifications in China, we will discover the role open source has played in Android's popularity and how to design for such a diverse environment.
5. (or more specifically, the Port of Leith
i’m going to start in Scotland
on the north edge of Edinburgh)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eguidetravel/4683905164
6. Leith is a working harbour,
Source: Marinetraffic.com
so as nearby residents, we see
all sorts of ships...
18. Source: Intel
True to Moore’s predictions,
the number of components
on an integrated circuit
(or microchip)
have continued
to double every
18 months.
21. All that changed in 2005, when Taiwanese
semiconductor company MediaTek introduced what
it called “reference designs” for mobile phones.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/3300142950
22. http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/3300142950
This “cell phone in a box”
concept bundled all the
necessary mobile
phone components
onto a single chip.
Manufacturers could
customize their chip
from a menu of available
features, and MediaTek
even offered training
and development tools
such as emulators.
camera
MP3 music player
low power consumption
feature phone reference chipset
GSM/GPRS
pre-integrated software
ARM7-EJ 52MHz
ultra-low-cost
MT6233
24. Most of these companies clustered around the electronics
and manufacturing hub of Shenzhen in China, but others
soon appeared in India, Malaysia, Indonesia...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/3299338889
25. MediaTek chips provided most of the functionality.
All companies needed to do was slap on a case, add a bit of
branding and develop any product-specific customizations.
Nexian Indonesia
circa 2009
26. Micromax India
circa 2009
Some companies competed solely on price, while others
specialized in fun and often eccentric devices designed to
suit local needs and fashions....
27. fake Blackberry
...others simply produced copies
of flagship devices from well
known brands...
iOS lookalike
fake Vodafone
fake Opera Mini
The ever stylish and most desirable
Voda-Pod-Berry
Source: Danwei.org
28. By late 2007, it was estimated
that these small “white-box”*
retailers had captured 10%
of global device sales.
Source: Wikipedia
(Because many of these companies began by
copying other products, they were also often
referred to as “Shanzhai”, or bandit manufacturers,
but this term downplays the presence of many
small legitimate companies who designed their
own products).
not a BlackBerry
man in an
Obama suit?
29. didn’t just copy...they innovated
but white-box manufacturers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/1783467315
video caller 2
video caller 1
30. They ran tiny production runs, experimenting wildly with
industrial design, components and software. If a “feature” didn’t
sell, they simply dreamt up another...
TV antenna
watch phone
music phone
detachable lens
regional designs
special occasion
space for 4 SIM cards
+ projectorQWERTY (popular
in Indonesia)
Photo credit: Bunnies studio blog
31. With the release of Android in 2008,
things changed once again...
32. Android provided the entire ecosystem with a unique
opportunity to rapidly transition from building low-cost
feature phones to low, mid-and eventually high-end
smartphones and tablets.
circa 2010
one of Spice, India’s first
Android smartphones
33. Source: EBay, August 2013
Shanzhai circa 2013
...looks like a Nokia Lumia
...looks like Windows Phone OS
Some small device makers still chose to
copy the look and feel of well known brands...
...built on Android
but hey, it’s only £56! ($85)
34. ...but many have evolved into larger companies that now
develop and market devices under their own brand.
Meizu M8 Mini One
667 MHz, 3.2 mp camera
Customized Windows CE
Meizu MX2
quad core 1.6 GHz, 8mp
Customized Android “FlyMe” OS
Meizu M9
1 GHz, 5 mp
Android 2.2
2007
£125 ($200)
2011
£218 ($350)
2012
£250 ($400)
35. “...designed by Jack
Wong with the help of
30-plus handcrafted
wooden prototypes,
followed by 3-D
scanning...”
Source: Engadget
The slick, NFC-
enabled Meizu MX3
in 2013...
36. Other chipset vendors such as Rockchip, Broadcom,
Allwinner and Qualcomm now emulate the MediaTek
model, resulting in a veritable explosion of options for
manufacturers and consumers.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdecomite/2787670078/
37. http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/3300199882Source: The Internet of things is Android and its everywhere
“Every screen variant, mobile chip, and sensor known to man
has been tuned to work with Android...there’s this network
effect, so that now anyone who wants to make a custom
product can take Android and morph it into anything”.
Jim Zemlin, Linux Foundation
38. Off the shelf components and an open OS have
democratized portable computing.
There is now huge consumer choice in connected
devices reaching almost every price point.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designshard/3019335591
43. All modern connected devices
consist of a carefully chosen
collection of components.
Source: Samsung
Gyro sensor
Internal memory
1.5GHz DualCore Chip
LTE, HSPDA Modem
Antenna and stereo
speakers
Light sensor module
3 Megapixel
back-facing
camera
High capacity battery
DMB
antenna
44. Manufacturers can choose
off-the-shelf components,
or customize each aspect
of the device to suit their
intended price-point and
target audience.
WI-FI
Bluetooth
capacitive display
multi-SIM
FM radio
GPS
CPU
speakers
physical size
ppi
responsiveness
gyroscope
proximity
light
motion
operating system
2G/3G/4G
battery
camera
browser
music player
SIM
sensors
graphics card
clarity
toggle
simultaneous
standby
front
back
45. At the cheapest price
point, you often find
“generic” device with
an off-the-shelf
chipset, stock Android
and barely-branded
case. There are tons of
these devices for sale
throughout Asia, but
they haven’t (yet)
reached Europe and
North America.
Screenshot: Tmart
off-the-shelf
stock
off-the-shelf
46. Slightly more customized
devices are sold by all
sorts of companies.
Here is an example of
a very popular device that
might fit this category....
customized
customized
off-the-shelf
47. ¥799 (£83/$130)
nice but basic plastic case
stock MediaTek MT6589T chipset
8 Mp camera
dual SIM w/ dual standby
highly customized MIUI ROM
Xiaomi Hongmi
fancy Gorilla Glass
48. Part of Hongmi’s huge appeal is its
MIUI ROM. A highly customized (and
customizable) version of Android.
(we’ll have a better look at Android ROMs in a bit...)
49. In case you’re thinking “Yeah, whatever...”
consider that when the Hongmi went on sale last month,
the first batch of 100,000 devices sold out in just 90 seconds.
(Xiaomi has no shops and until recently, only sold online. This reduces overhead,
and enables customers all over China to purchase a device on the very same day).
50. What we most often purchase in
Europe and North America is some
manner of highly customized device
built by an established manufacturer.
customized
customized
customized
51. experiment with different form factors
use Android as a base with which to
these manufacturers
Galaxy NGalaxy Tab 7.0”Galaxy
Player
5.8”
Galaxy
Note
5.3”
Galaxy SIII
4.8”
Admire
3.5”
Intercept
3.0”
Gravity
2.3”
Galaxy Tab 8.9”Galaxy Tab 7.7”
52. A new dual screen, dual SIM (with dual standby) luxury clamshell phone developed
by Samsung. The full OS is accessible from back or front. This device is expected to
retail for ~£1500 ($2500).
serve varied audiences...
53. The KDDI Infobar range
was designed by famed industrial
designer Naoto Fukasawa, and
features iida UI, a highly
customized version of Android.
to differentiate
or leverage fashion
their brand
Infobar
C01
Infobar
A01
54. Open source Android OS also provides an ideal platform on
which to experiment with new interfaces and interactions.
Scrolling turns elements into
translucent teardrops.
iida UI features a modular,
widget based interface.
There are also lots of
platform specific transitions.
55. On Sony Xperia and newer
Samsung Galaxy devices,
users can trigger resizable
and repositionable
floating windows. These
enable advanced PC-like
copy/paste and multi-
tasking behaviours.
Unlike Android widgets (which are simply mini-data
views), these windows contain a fragment of the full
application that users can interact with.
57. scroll using the
back panel
206° repositionable
camera
take photos remotely
(using Bluetooth LE)
or new extensions to
hardware-based interactions
The new Oppo N1
59. A dual display smartphone developed by Yota, a Russian broadband
operator. The e-paper powered back display can retain an image for weeks,
even when the device is powered off. This feature enables users to
completely customize their back case, or use it to store a time-and power-
sensitive image such as a map or boarding pass.
e-paper
with capacitive
touch stripe
standard
multi-touch
display
FRONT
BACK
60.
61.
62. Toughshield specializes in products for industrial and institutional settings
including construction, healthcare and retail.
63. Global supermarket chain
Tesco recently announced
Hudl, a ~£100 ($150) family-
friendly tablet featuring
extensive ClubCard loyalty
scheme and blinkbox
entertainment service
integration.
Tesco Hudl
64. Source: Quartz, Photo courtesy Datawind
The Indian government hopes
to distribute at least 220
million Aakash 2 tablets to that
country’s students.
Manufactured in India for a
mere $40, the purchase cost to
students will be subsidized to
further increase access.
65. Although many consumers still
primarily purchase devices
designed, developed and
marketed by large
companies...this may not be the
case going forward.
If current patterns hold true,
consumers around the world
may increasingly be just as likely
to own devices developed by
smaller brands and
manufactured through any
number of “other” manufacturers.
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by
Vendor in 2Q13
Apple
14%
Samsung
32%
LG
5%
ZTE 4%
Lenovo 4%
Others
40%
66. ...but Android’s diversity does not stop
at brands and hardware. The platform
itself is also immensely customizable.
67. The most common customizations come from large manufacturers,
who attempt to differentiate by offering proprietary user interface
skins, home screens (or “launchers”) and enable unique features and
personalization options such as themeing.
“Vanilla” Android Samsung Touch Whiz HTC Sense Huawei Emotion UI
customized
versions
69. A relatively common
customization might
be the installation of
an alternate app to
control text input.
This new app could be
triggered just-in-time,
or set to completely
replace the default
keyboard.
SwiftKey with QWERTY and
gesture input
8Pen gesture input
70. In fact, thanks to a system called intents, users can also specify
favourite apps to complete common tasks such as sharing or
opening URLs. They can do this just-in-time, or choose a
favourite app to complete that task going forward.
Set as default: Choose Firefox as
default app to browse the web from
the current context.
Just in time: Choose which
app you would currently like
to use to “Share” a URL.
71. A less common, but more transformative customization is to install
a new launcher. This replaces the device’s home and lock screens,
core app menus, and often unlocks extensive collections of themes
and home screen widgets.
The very popular Go Launcher offers an extensive theme collection and enables users to
customize transition effects and define their own shortcut gestures.
72. The most extreme form of customization involves completely
replacing the build of Android that came with the device.
These third party (and often community-built) modifications (or MODs)
provide not just a new launcher, skins, and themes, but replace many
default apps and enable entirely new (and often experimental) features.
73. Paranoid Android MOD for example
features a Hybrid Mode that lets you
adjust the resolution of every app, widget
or system component on the device.
Because many Android apps adapt to
different screen sizes, this enables you to
choose a preferred “view” for each app.
74. The most popular MOD in
China is MIUI, developed
by upstart handset
manufacturer Xiaomi.
International versions of
MIUI are maintained by
independent developers
with versions available for
14 countries including
Brazil, India and Indonesia.
(The MIUI is closed source, so it may be in breach of the Android licence.)
75. MIUI is particularly
popular as its design is
actively crowd sourced
through the discussions
of thousands of Chinese
Mi-Fans on Xiaomi’s
message boards.
76. Another popular feature is MIUIs’ extensive themeing capabilities,
and an app store containing thousands of community built themes.
77. Installing a MOD is far from mainstream (especially in Europe
and North America), but as installation becomes simpler, who
knows what behaviours will develop.
CyanogenMod is now a formal company
with $7M in investment, and plans to
develop a one-click installer that will
soon be available on Google Play.
80. Although a device’s core
interfaces, icons and even
input mechanisms may be
customized, manufacturers
are expected* to include the
default Holo system theme
on every device.
*This requirement only extends to “official”
manufacturers who ship devices with Android
Marketplace. Small manufacturers don’t always
qualify, so although they have nothing to gain,
(and everything to lose) by not including Holo,
it’s possible they may choose to omit it.
Holo lightHolo dark
81. Holo provides a consistent look and feel for core components.
When designing an Android app, you are free to provide your own
theme, but using Holo will guarantee a consistent look across
devices, and reduce the need to extensively test your brand-
specific theme with the many other themed variants of Android.
Thanks to Holo, the Twitter image picker interface
remains consistent.
The Holo-themed settings
screen on a Galaxy Nexus
running stock-Android.
The customized settings
screen on a Xiaomi M2S
running MiUI.
82. What you will need to plan for however
is diversity in platform versions.
Because Android OS is itself just another
component, manufacturers are free to
use whichever version best suits a
device’s overall capabilities and
performance profile.
(And if a manufacturer has highly customized their
build, they may not be able to immediately update
it each time Google releases a new version).
Jelly Bean (2012)
45.1%
Ice Cream Sandwich
(2011)
21.7%
Gingerbread (2010)
30.7%
Older versions 2.5%
Source: developer.android.com, September 4 2013
83. Note: Older versions of Android often support
different features, include different APIs and follow
different design patterns. Google provides
compatibility and support libraries that help smooth
out many of these differences.
Android 4.0
£7,000 ($11,000)
Vertu Ti
For this reason, consumers
purchasing a device today
may not automatically end up
with the latest version of the OS.
84. Source: Henry Fong, Yodo1, presented at GDC 2013
Users may also not access their content
through the channels you’d expect...
A snapshot of the complexity of Android app discovery, distribution
and payment in China. The Chinese ecosystem is particularly
complex and include over 200 app stores.
85. An unofficial app store in a Bangkok mega mall selling
Android (and iOS :-) apps to passersby. We’ve been told
that in parts of APAC, stores like this can also help you
install and maintain a custom Android MOD.
FWIW: This is not a new behaviour. The platforms and
devices may have changed but we first noticed (J2ME,
SWF & ringtone) app store booths in APAC malls in 2002!
the more creative people will get
the more open the ecosystem,
social discovery
serendipity
(...and fun!)
curation and
tech support
87. http://www.flickr.com/photos/designshard/3019335591
Disclaimer: Android is incredibly versatile and now powers
thousands of “devices” including cars, TVs, fridges, stoves and
watches.
Although this presentation primarily discusses consumer
electronics products such as smartphones and tablets, many
of the guidelines and approaches discussed will be relevant to
the design of other types of products.
88. 1. Be flexible
2. Provide assets for all
3. Optimize layouts
4. Enable diverse experiences
Android design 101
Four key principles
...these no doubt seem familiar if you regularly
design for the (mobile) web
First three principles provided by Google but expanded by yiibu..
90. “We have seen
11,868 distinct
devices download
our app in the past
few months. In our
report last year we
saw 3,997.
OpenSignal device fragmentation report, 2013
With so many distinctly different devices, you can expect a wide
range of screen sizes and pixel densities.
91. Screen size and pixel density diversity makes defining layouts
using pixels problematic.
On screens with different densities, an identical number of pixels,
will correspond to different physical sizes.
this 4 x 2 pixel button is
too big on a low density
display...
...just right on a medium
density display...
...and far too small on a
high density display
92. To solve this problem, Android enables you to define layouts using
density independent pixels (dp).
Use these virtual pixel units to express dimensions or position,
and the system will automatically scale them as appropriate to the
device’s screen size and density.
medium density
(baseline)
high density
(adjusted so physical size
remains consistent)
low density
(adjusted so physical size
remains consistent)
Tip: 1dp corresponds to approximately 1px on a 160ppi display.
93. Similar to designing flexibly
for the web, you should
don’t specify dimensions in
cases where elements are
simply meant to stretch to
fill the available space.
Android enables you to
specify how components
should scale to fit this space,
and ways to define the
weight of each component
within the interface.
resizable area,
no fixed height
resizable and of equal weight
12dp10dp
48dp
48dp
32x32dp
Source: developer.google.com
94. Layouts that scale and flex are great, but to provide the best
experience, you will often need to go further:
• Provide alternate bitmaps to reduce the blurring and
pixelation caused by automatic scaling.
• Specify alternate layouts to improve legibility and overall
user experience.
• Specify alternate content or behaviours to suit a user’s
language, device form factor or capabilities.
but that’s not all...
96. Each Android app includes
a collection of resources that
are used to define and
construct the user interface.
These include bitmap images,
layouts, colour palettes, text
strings and numeric values
containing content or key
dimensions such as global or
component-specific margins
and font sizes.
<abcd/>
<200dp>
97. Resources can be grouped
using qualifiers that specify
their intended context of use.
Similar (in spirit) to CSS media
queries (but far more
versatile)...this system enables
you to indicate which
resources should be used
based on common contexts
such as screen size,
orientation, pixel density, and
language.
color
drawable
drawable-mhdpi
res
drawable-port-hdpi
layout
values
values-de
orientation
pixel density
language
98. values-de
All you have to do is group
assets using the necessary
resources and qualifiers.
At runtime, Android will
detect the current device
capabilities and load the
appropriate resources for
your application.
color
drawable
res
values
logo.png
icon.png
drawable-hdpi
logo.png
icon.png
only high dpi devices
will use these images
only devices set to German
will use what’s in this folder
99. You can also combine
qualifiers to increase
context specificity.
drawable-en-rUS-land-hdpi
language
region
orientation
pixel density
100. A critical use-case for qualifiers is to specify alternate bitmaps for
different screen densities. These are specified using standard
groupings (called generalized densities) that map to common
Android screen densities.
nodpi can be used to specify for bitmap resources that should not be scaled to match the device density.
Although still rare, you can also use tvdpi to specify bitmaps for mid-density (~213dpi) televisions.
ldpi
~120dpi
mdpi
~160dpi
hdpi ~240dpi xhdpi ~320dpi xxhdpi ~480dpi
BASELINE
0.75x
1.5x
2.0x
3.0x
102. Android regularly publishes
screen density statistics.
Take these into account when
deciding which alternate
resources to include.
xhdpi
23.7%
hdpi
34.3%
tvdpi
1.2%
mdpi
23.5%
ldpi
10.2%
xxhdpi 7%
TIP
Source: developer.android.com, September 4 2013
104. Creating layouts that are flexible, and adapt to different screen
densities, isn’t always enough to deliver the best experience.
excessive line
length
missed
opportunity
to use space
reduced visual
grouping
105. Android provides two additional tools that dramatically improve
the experience when dealing with screen size diversity.
layout
layout-sw480dp
layout-sw720dp
res
A way to specify alternate layouts
using qualifiers to correlate layouts
with screen size breakpoints.
A way to construct layouts using reusable
and adaptable user interface components
called fragments.
layout-land-w900dp
106. Using qualifiers, you can define breakpoints between layouts,
or tweak existing layouts to better suit the screen size.
600dp 720dp320dp 1020dp
baseline
experience
and
onwards...
107. Instead of filling these buckets with distinct “smartphone” or “tablet”
layouts, construct highly adaptive layouts that rely on smart
combinations of flexible and adaptable components.
600dp 720dp320dp 1020dp
baseline
experience
and
onwards...
109. Android apps are made up of activities (things you can do)
and fragments (components that provide the content and
functionality within each activity).
fragment(s) fragment(s) fragment(s)
110. On small screens, it’s always best to focus the interaction.
There's often only room to display one fragment at a time,
so users must drill-down to access other fragments or activities.
111. On larger screens, there is an opportunity to combine these
fragments to enrich interactions, improve usability, and make
better use of available space.
12:00 12:00
A
B
A
B
112. A B C
On the largest screens Evernote combines up to three fragments into one activity.
Swipe left on fragment B to reveal a split screen containing fragments B and C. Swipe left
on C to reveal a full-screen view of that fragment.
113. Evernote also relies heavily on flexible components, and lots of
fragment-specific design tweaks. It’s this combination of design
decisions that enables a consistently great experience.
linear layout
fragments
expand to fill
the screen
grid layout
grid scales vertically and horizontallyfragment
with larger
thumbnail
114. One fragment per
activity, accessible
using tabs.
Many fragments grouped as a
single activity.
Many fragments grouped as a single activity.
Google I/O app
115. The list and detail fragments as
one activity. Swipe right to slide
open the menu panel fragment.
The menu panel, list and detail fragments as one activity.
Wordpress app
One fragment per
activity. Swipe right
to slide open the
menu panel
fragment.
116. These layout changes can
once again be defined
using a collection of
resources and qualifiers.
layout
layout-sw480dp
res
layout-land-sw720pd
activity_notebook.xml
fragment_notebook.xml
layout-sw720dp
activity_notebook.xml
fragment_notebook.xml
layout
breakpoint
layout
breakpoint
default
layout
orientation
breakpoint
117. Touch screen UI mode API level
notouch
stylus
trackball
finger
car
desk
television
appliance
v1
v2
v3
Layout direction Language & region MCC & MNC
ldrtl
ldltr
en
fr
en-rUS
fr-rFR
mcc310
loosely maps
to platform
version e.g.
Gingerbread,
Jelly Bean
country code
mnc004
docked
with a...
no display!!
network code
e.g. AT&T,
T-Mobile
right to
left
And that’s just the start of what you can do. Qualifiers can be
also used to specify a wide range of alternate experiences.
(Here are just a few of the more interesting ones...)
For a full list see Providing resources
118. Almost any application will benefit from the inclusion of
alternate resources to support diversity (be they images,
layouts, content or behaviours).
It’s not necessary however to account for all combinations.
TIP
119. Small well-chosen adjustments can make a big difference.
When in doubt, keep things simple. Don’t micro-manage
the design or introduce complexity just “because you can”.
layout-en-rUS-land-car-hdpi-night-qwerty-trackball-...
122. An intent is simply a
combination of an action,
and a piece of data.
Source: Nick Butcher, Google
VIEW
EDIT Contact “Bryan Rieger”
www.yiibu.com
123. Android apps can
register their ability
to handle each type of
intent (or if you
prefer...their ability to
assist the user in
completing an activity).
I can....
...VIEW
...EDIT
...SHARE
...CHOOSE
“
Source: Nick Butcher, Google
125. There are hundreds of social networks, email clients, messenger
apps or utilities that a user might prefer to use to share a URL.
126. On other platforms, a brand decides (ahem...guesses, presumes)
which services to enable, and hard codes these into their app.
(Or...if a user is lucky, the platform may enable them to pre-configure a few popular
default services such as Facebook and Twitter.)
127. ...thanks to intents, users can choose how they wish to share.
you “save”
you edit/compose
your noteyou click “share”
SHARE
{data}
Share
you choose an app*the intent is
broadcast
*only apps that are capable of fulfilling a share request are displayed
128. you “save”
you edit/compose
your noteyou click “share”
the intent is
broadcast
SHARE
{data}
...completing the action automatically brings you back to the Twitter app
Intents also enable out-of-the-box seamless experiences.
Once a task is complete, the user automatically ends up back
where they initiated that task.
Share
*only apps that are capable of fulfilling a share request are displayed
you choose an app*
130. Clicking a URL also triggers an intent. It’s therefore possible for
brands with both an app, and a mobile optimized site to enable
behaviours like this....
Pick me!!
Two apps respond
“I can handle ”view”
intents on amazon.co.uk”
browser resolves
the URL
app resolves
the URL*the user clicks a link
(within a web page, in an
email, or in another app...)
<a href=”http://
www.amazon.co.uk/
bookReference”>
the intent is
broadcast
VIEW
{URI}
Share
Amazon Chrome
*this doesn’t happen by magic, but the additional work is worth it!
131. The beauty here is that this is a (progressive) enhancement.
The web page simply contains a URL. If there’s no Amazon app
installed, the URL simply opens in a browser.
(If the user has two browsers installed (for example, a text to speech browser), and hasn’t
designated a default, both will respond...and the user can make a choice).
Reminder:
132. The more apps support intents, the more users can chain apps
and activities together to complete very personal experiences...
Share (i.e. open)
using Google Translate
...then Share in an SMS
hardware Back
open Tweet
using your
chosen “app”
click a URL in the
Tweet and open using
your favourite “app” seamless auto Back
seamless auto Back
hardware Back
For a deeper exploration of multi-app experiences, see Beyond Progressive Enhancement
133. Using intents reduces the need to design, build, and
maintain a bespoke system to manage sharing, or build
regional variants of your app to enable region- or audience-
specific social sharing.
It also enables your app to deliver a more personalized and
future-friendly user experience.
CORE BENEFITS
134. Be flexible
Create density-independent layouts that stretch and compress to
accommodate various heights and widths.
Provide assets for all
Provide resources for different screen densities to ensure that your app
looks great on any device. Take advantage of built-in resource switching to
optimize other aspects of the experience.
Optimize layouts
On larger devices, take advantage of extra screen real estate.
Create compound views to reveal more content and ease navigation.
Enable diverse experiences
Enable personalization, and provide a more global experience using intents.
recap: four key principles
First three principles provided by Google but expanded by yiibu..
137. this doesn’t include the many
“unofficial” devices being imagined
and assembled by makers around the world
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tigoe/3321975176
138. Source: The Internet of things is Android and its everywhere
the growing number of
Android-based interfaces
found in cars...
139. Internet enabled treadmill. Currently considered a luxury product (...give it 18 months).
...the emerging
Android-based “appliances”
141. and once we begin to embed swarms of
Android-tethered “smart dust” throughout the world,
we may lose count altogether...
Source: MIT Technology Review, smart dust mage: UCLA
“By equipping the clothing and bodies of users with a mesh of multiple
sensors - known as “smart dust” - that report to an Android-powered phone,
researchers are pioneering an open-source route to realizing the dream of
always-on medical monitoring”.
142. what these “devices”
all have in common is
the magic that happens...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designshard/3020167188
144. meet an open
and widely-distributed
“Because Android is open-source, the researchers were able to
develop on top of it using the SPINE platform for remote sensing,
and to add to it their own API...these platforms allowed them free
reign to experiment”.
- Android powered sensors monitor vital signs
platform...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewmalone/2355592191
“I ran into [SAIC] at this trade show where they
were placed next to all these other carmakers
with massive software teams...they said:
‘We just have six dudes and Android.’
- The Internet of things is Android and its everywhere
“Nanosats based on Android phones offerthe...advantage of a standardized appplatform for running experiments. Thisopens up space experiments to studentsand hackers around the world.’
- Android and Linux Nanosats shine bright
145. some people believe
to be squashed...
Android’s diversity is a thing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/greencolander/2502910471/
146. but i’m pretty sure
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92090133@N04/8487832697/
diversity is not a bug...