Comment on Android 16 is here

• Zak@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  The launcher is, but not everything new in Android 16 could be just an app. The new desktop mode, for example likely requires much deeper integration with the OS.

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  • boonhet@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I mean yeah, you’re right about the desktop mode, but 90% of new user facing features are going to be in one app or another generally.

    Technically the desktop mode itself might also be an app, though a window manager or desktop environment isn’t something we conventionally think of as an app.

    No idea when I’ll get to touch a new enough Android to play with it. My old Oneplus is on shaky custom rom support and my daily driver is an iPhone (which will likely get much longer software support and is newer to begin with)

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    • Zak@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I suppose the distinctions between the OS and “just an app” are blurred on any OS. One might argue anything that isn’t the kernel is just userland software on conventional Linux.

      On Android, anything a third party could deliver without system or root privileges is “just an app”. That includes keyboards, launchers, messaging apps, image editors, and smarthome device managers, but not direct management of network connections, notifications, or direct interaction with other apps (i.e. outside of intents or over the network).

      If you’ve used an Android device with root access, you’ve seen things that fail this test. Anything that needs root to work can’t be delivered to most Android users unless it’s part of the OS or a system app.

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      • boonhet@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I feel like Android and Linux (being that it’s what Android itself is based on) do the whole “everything is an app” much better than, say, Windows. On Windows, generally speaking, your entire desktop experience is built-in and so tightly coupled that it’s hard to switch it out. On Linux, you don’t NEED a GUI at all, but if you want one, you’ll have a display server, a window manager, etc. On Android, at least without the desktop mode, the base GUI is the launcher, which is just an app.

        System apps that require root access are still apps. Of course the kernel isn’t really an app and I don’t think Google Play Services fits most people’s definitions of an app. System libraries aren’t apps. So those are the parts that you could consider true “OS updates” as opposed to “app updates”, but since the “apps” part of the system (if you include system apps) is so much more visible to the user, an OS update will seem like it’s mostly a bunch of app updates.

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