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Android Instant Apps could be Google's next killer feature

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 May 2016 11:50 User comments (2)

Android Instant Apps could be Google's next killer feature

Google has unveiled Android Instant Apps, a potentially killer project that lets users launch apps without installation required.
The company says Instant Apps is ideal for those who visit a place infrequently or use a service infrequently and don't want to download and waste space with the app for a one-and-done situation.

An app will likely offer a better experience compared to a full or mobile site when on your phone, and when you close an Instant App, it is gone from your phone, although technically it will remain in your web cache until it is cleared out.

If you love the app, you can actually download the full installation by clicking "Install" in the top right-hand side of the Instant App.

For developers, it is a win-win. "It's the same Android APIs, the same source code, the same project," Android Instant Apps product management director Michael Siliski said. "In fact, it's taken some developers as little as a day to get up and running." Of course, the developers will have to work on editing the app so only necessary bits are downloaded for "Instant," but for some apps that will likely not be an issue given their low complexity. There is one restriction, however. All modules for Instant Apps must be 4MB or less, replicating an average web page.



Android users will start seeing Instant Apps later this year.

Source:
VB

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2 user comments

126.5.2016 00:30

Maybe this - amazing new stuff in development - is why Android has NOT addressed the unfathomable issue of a smart PHONE whose keypad flashes on and off while you're in a call. The problem here, which should not exist, is that when I'm trying to input via the keypad, the action of tapping a digit causes the screen to go black. Shaking the phone brings it back, but the digit is flushed. So if you're trying to input a string, even of only two digits, you can't! I don't know how I ever get through menus. At some point, for whatever reason, the screen stays there long enough for me to use the menu. (Often, after aborted calls.) But, Really?!!!

227.5.2016 10:19

Since they are actually admitting that installation is not necessary, it would be nice if they would just allow portable-style apps...it stays on the device but it only runs when you want it to.

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