Thoughts on systems, engineering, AI, technology and life.
Every year I like to take a snapshot of the Android platforms adoption. It is great to compare Year-to-Year numbers for historical purposes. Keeping track of platform adoption is important as it directly impacts what developers should be focusing on vs. what should be deprecating or end-of-life. Below is the Android platform comparison 2016 vs. … Read more
Every year I like to take a snapshot of Android platforms adoption for historical purposes. Below is the Android platform comparison 2015 vs. 2014. (Search my blog for previous ones). Keeping track of platform adoption is important as it directly impacts what developers should be focusing on vs. what should be deprecating or end-of-life. (Data … Read more
(Image Source: Mario Tomás Serrafero) I find this interesting: the recent move by MSFT to get into and “steal” the Android space. Today, thanks to new leadership at MSFT (Nadella), it seems the company is entering a new phase — with new vision and no-or less ego than before. And with this, MSFT is directly … Read more
Due to its origins and philosophy with respect to openness, Android is a fragmented mobile platform. This is illustrated next: There are different kinds of fragmentation to keep in mind. Android platform versions. To minimize fragmentation-related headaches, decide early on what versions of Android to support. As you can see above, Gingerbread (introduced in 2011) … Read more
I wrote a small piece for the Safari Flow Blog: With sales of Android devices growing, there’s no better time to get started crafting your first Android app. Here are the five things you need to know before creating that first killer app. Read the rest of the article: 5 Tips to Get Started with … Read more
My most recent piece is about Using Android’s Advertising ID (Safari Online Books blog). The ability to identify users is important for advertising, analytics and other purposes. Android developers typically rely on the Android Device ID or Telephony IDs such as the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) to uniquely identify users, but these approaches also … Read more
Installing apps, Android in this case, is at times a bit of WTF. It shouldn’t have to, but it is. The amount of personal information that some apps gather can be extreme. This concern is especially true after Google removed the very necessary App Ops (permission manager) app. Let me provide an example. An app … Read more
Android App Ops is no more… Two weeks after I wrote Android App Ops is a Step Forward, Google has disabled/removed the permission manager. After the Android 4.4.2 update, invoking the App Ops app results in a RuntimeException. The R.I.P. permission manager, a very important capability for end-users, WAS a step forward; we are going … Read more
Update Dec/15/2013: Two weeks after I wrote this piece below, Google removed App Ops… See Android App Ops *WAS* a Step Forward, and stay tuned. One of Android’s top limitations, one that totally drives me nuts, is its security model, in particular the app permissions model. This is a permission security model where developers (the … Read more
Check out the new guest post that I wrote on Enabling Voice Communication on Android Apps, for the Safari Books Online blog. It covers how to enable voice communication using the Android SIP Stack/API. Enabling voice communication on Android apps is possible via the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) stack. This protocol originated in 2000 as … Read more