Category: Android

Editor’s Note:  This post is concerning a feature in Android N.  As this new version of Android is still in development, the features described in this post could change between the time of the writing and when it is released to the public in the summer of 2016.

There was a time, in the not-to-distant-past, where being visually impaired made using a smartphone or even a PC challenging.  While huge strides have been made on the PC front, the accessibility changes needed on smartphones to help those with vision challenges have been slow to come.  It has improved significantly as both Google and Apple focus on this with their platforms, but there is always room for improvement.  As I dig into Android N further, it looks like those improvements are coming to the next generation of Android in a positive way.

If you are a Project Fi user, the first technical preview of Android N may not be for you.  In various forums and social sites across the web – Google+, the Product Forums and Reddit – Fi users have run into a wide range of problems with their devices after installing Project N.  This has included some bricked phones (to be fair though, there have been non-Fi users impacted by that) and users simply not being able to get the service to work even after clearing app caches and data.

The news of issues shouldn’t come as a complete shock given the nature of this first beta of Android N.  It is certainly not fully baked (think of it is a cake with a gloppy center right now) and while some users have had seemingly no problems, for Fi users, the inability to make calls or use data is, well, kinda a big deal.

When Google unleashed the first technical preview of Android N on the world this week, nobody really saw it coming. In fact, talking to sources at Google, I’m not even sure most of the company knew. Sure the Android team did and like a few other critical teams but broadly?  I don’t think so.  Many Googlers I know were just as surprised as you or me.

For me though, the release of the preview could not have been timed more perfectly and the way they opened it up to anyone running a Nexus device will assure that this launch will likely be the most successful ever for an Android release.  It also moves up their release timeline to mid-year, something that will help year end holiday season sales of devices as N will be well established by then.  It is a stroke of genius by Google and should not be lost on anyone.

Editor’s Note:  This post is concerning a feature in Android N.  As this new version of Android is still in development, the features described in this post could change between the time of the writing and when it is released to the public in the summer of 2016.

As I dig further into Android N, another nice improvement to a feature already there has surfaced that will benefit users on low data allowances.  Data Usage has been in Android a while and in Marshmallow is pretty good at giving you notifications on when you are approaching your cellular data threshold for the month and, in fact, can even be configured to disable your data once you hit that threshold to avoid overages.  But it is somewhat of an all or nothing proposition and while you can go into Data Usage and restrict apps from using data, it is again an all or nothing.  That appears to be changing in Android N.

During a press briefing yesterday, Samsung’s President of the company’s handheld division, Koh Dong-jin, reported that sales of the new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have been stronger than the company initially anticipated.  While no specific figures were given nor were any sales targets, the public announcement is a good sign for the company who by all accounts had lackluster sales for the previous S6 lineup – by their standards.

The news of the first beta of Android N being released yesterday has made the Android community a flurry of activity and with Google for the first time really making it easy for users to download it and install it on their Nexus devices, it means that a lot of people have installed it.  And by a lot I mean a lot.  My Google+ and Twitter feeds are full of people posting photos of their devices in various stages of being updated or N running on them.  Along with that has come a pile of posts of people not happy because their favorite app is not working.  I warned readers this would happen.  What was released yesterday was in every word beta and you could even make the argument that it is alpha code.

But whatever you do, don’t go to the Google Play Store and give a 1 star rating and bad review for an app not working in Android N.  That doesn’t help anyone, particularly the developers.