Android on the Desktop

First, They Came for the Chromebooks...

Wall Street Journal October 29 report

• Chrome OS will merge with Android
• Android will get better support for desktop-style UI
• Results in 2017, early preview in 2016
• Denied by Google

Doing the Unpossible

• Detractors reaction: can't be done, Android does not have multi-window support
• Android N... has multi-window support

ARC Reactions

Ars Technica/Reddit April 24 Report

• Chrome OS has dialog offering "over a million apps and games from Google Play to install and use on your Chromebook"
• Presumably builds upon App Runtime for Chrome (ARC), released in 2015 to much yawning
  • 800,000+ android questions on Stack Overflow
  • Under 200 google-chrome-arc questions on Stack Overflow ...which is the official support mechanism
• Ignored by Google

Moar ARC Reactions

Ars Technica April 28 Random Musings Piece

• ARC works with Chrome, more so than Chrome OS
• Developers can test ARC on desktop Chrome (that being said, testing on Chrome OS hardware is a good idea too)
• Is Google's plan to eventually get Android on Windows/OS X/Linux via ARC?
  • Chrome OS is more of an extended soak test, given smaller user base
  • Rollout to desktop Chrome perhaps in 2017+
• Still ignored by Google

How Many of You...

• ...are attending Google I|O live and in person?
• ...are attending an I|O Extended event?
• ...are extending I|O to your office desk?
• ...are extending I|O to your home sofa?

I Am Not a Betting Man

(Nor Do I Play One on TV)

• Play Store on Chrome OS: 80%
• Droidbooks: 65%
• Play Store on Chrome (overall): 40%
• Desktop mode for phones/tablets: 30%
  • Motorola ATRIX
  • BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Tablet
• Bluestacks competitor: 15%
• Bootable flash drive: you gotta be kidding, right?

About that "Ready or Not" Bit

You Did Read the Title Slide, Right?

• Google is offering "million apps" on Chrome OS
• We do not have anywhere near a million apps tested on ARC
• Result: Chrome OS distribution will be opt-out at best

Export At Your Own Peril

• Activities adopt the window characteristics of whatever starts them, if they are in the same task
• Net: exported activities, by default, will be in the other app's window
• Cannot configure launchMode, taskAffinity, etc. based on whether you are in multi-window or not
• Net net: exported activities cannot readily opt out of multi-window behavior

I Do Not Hear Any Screaming

You Are Not Panicking Enough. Panic Harder!

• Android N released early
• Assuming timetable from past two previews... Android 7.0 ships in August
• Back-to-school season!
  • Chromebooks with Android apps?
  • Droidbooks?
• You have ~3 months to prepare for a brand-new form factor

The Three Flavors of Multi-Window

• Split-screen: phones and tablets
• Free-form: desktop-y things
• Picture-in-picture: for the 2,139 owners of Android TV devices

All Windows are Not Created Equal

(And This Isn't Even a Microsoft Joke)

• What works for free-form might not work for split-screen
  • Example: launching a third-party app
  • Free-form: might launch in separate task, so it gets its own window
  • Split-screen: what is the user doing in that other screen?
• Going to take a bit of time for us to wrap our heads around the options

Input, Beyond the Finger

And, No, Not That Finger

• Keyboard Konsiderations
  • Key combinations (e.g., <Ctrl>-<C>)
  • Keyboard-based navigation (tab, arrow keys, <PageUp>, etc.)
• Will users ever grok multi-touch with a mouse?

What Else Do Desktop Users Want?

Besides Getting That Windows 10 Upgrade Dialog to Go the F*ck Away

• Printing
• "Save As"/Export
• File server access
• Backup (and not necessarily to your server)

The Final Frontier

• Growth in mobile usage has flattened
• Desktop is the last known "greenfield" environment for Android
• Success with new form factors: partly Google, partly you, partly us
• If this is opt-out, onus is on us to ensure a good first impression

Your Objectives

(Or, Perhaps, "My Objectives for Your Objectives")

• Next week: pay very close attention to I|O
• Before Memorial Day: get your hands on appropriate hardware
• Before August 1: fix any egregious UX isses on desktop
  • No large-screen UI
  • Awkward handling of window resizing
  • Over-reliance on multi-touch gestures
• Before October 1: have a plan for delivering a first-class desktop experience

Any Questions?