Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
ANDROID COULD END up solving a problem with app downloads and storage space as it changes the way they’re downloaded.
Instant Apps will roll out later this year and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Giving smartphone users access to an app straight away but how it does it and what it allows is far more interesting.
Instead of downloading the whole app first, it only downloads the part that you need or want to look at. In the example provided at Google I/O, the company’s developer conference, someone could send you a link to an app.
When you click on it, instead of downloading it, it just opens up the part that’s been linked. The app is split up in modules so Google Play only installs the part that’s necessary.
Think of it like this. If an app was a website, then Instant Apps only loads up the page you need instead of the entire site. If you like it, you can then download the entire app for use later. If not, you can still jump into the app again provided you have a link, found either through search or sent by someone.
It’s unclear whether this will work for all apps or just smaller, specific apps – the idea of jumping into a demanding 3D game immediately would be amazing if it works – but it would be very useful for those with limited storage space.
And the best part? The feature works on Android phones using software as old as Jelly Bean. That means phones that were launched back in 2012 will be able to take advantage of it.
That’s probably a good thing considering how fragmented Android’s userbase is as only 7.5% of Android users have the latest version, Marshmallow, on their devices.
Not that Google has anything to be worried about. More than 65 billion apps were downloaded in the past year while more than 200 million Android smartphones were activated in the same period.
New platforms
AS part of the developer conference, it also revealed a number of updates that will be included with the next version of Android.
Android N is already available in beta, something that usually happens after Google I/O, but some of the new features coming include split-screen mode, a feature appearing on many other phones, and quick notification options. By holding down on a notification, you can choose to make them silent or block them entirely.
The other major Android announcement concerned DayDream, a virtual reality platform running on Android.
As well as requiring a smartphone and basic headset – presumably fancier than Cardboard – it will also be using a basic motion controller to control what is on screen.
The next generation of Android phones will be able to run DayDream and will work with a number of makers including Samsung, LG, Huawei, HTC, and Xiaomi.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
We heard during the pandemic from the government how they and the state owes the front-line services for the tremendous work was being carried out by them…now let us see the government giving these workers is fireman, nurses, guards, and the army… as we see we cannot get anyone to go onto these services
@Paul Maguire: it takes a while to qualify, esp for EMT. It’s not a course you can do overnight. I’m a volunteer for the last 11 years with a org and I’m waiting to do my EMT. To staff a ambulance you need to a minimum EMT and be PHECC registered. It’s not a job a 17 year old kid can just hand in his CV to. It’s a very difficult course as been a made up patient for osces
@Alan Scott: To become a retained firefighter its a 3 week recruitment course, 2 week breathing apparatus course and 1 week fire behaviour course. After there is constant training including water rescue, emergency first responder and so on. The problem is recruitment and retention. People are leaving the service and cannot be replaced. Guaranteed income is between €8k and €10k. The government conducted a survey of the retained service and deemed it not fit for purpose. The government then did nothing to fix it. The firefighters of Ireland have constantly asked for it to be fixed until we ultimately had to go on strike to highlight the seriousness of the crisis. Whether we strike or not, the service still has to be fixed…..we are just trying to force them into doing it. People always said to me ” how can you do that job” , now that they realise the commitment involved, they ask ” why do you do that job”.
WE DO NOT WANT TO STRIKE AND CLOSE STATIONS BUT WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN
@Sean Henehan: If 50% of the stations have been closed for 9 weeks or whatever and no one has noticed would it mit just be easier and better to make the busier stations full time and close the rest? Probably not want anyone wants to hear but sounds like that’s what everyone is looking for and neither side is willing to say. Smaller stations will get screwed out of this mark my words
@Ryan Simmons: Good point Ryan but summer is generally a quieter time for incidents in the home etc, if this is still going on into the winter it will have a big effect. For example a chimney fire can become very serious if not dealt with in a timely manner. Turn out times are hugely reduced because of stations being closed
@Sean Henehan: and you have my support wholeheartedly and the entire nation
@Ryan Simmons: FFG bot!….. How about fix the terms and conditions instead of running them into the ground needlessly. Management needs to go for running a critical service into the ground. Govt needs to take a long hard look at themselves (not hard for Leo) for standing by and letting it happen…… It is an essential service, lives at stake, and it has been mismanaged. Shocking stuff, shocking but not surprising
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: Easy to throw nonsense politics around if you can’t see the wood for the trees. Doesn’t matter who is in power, money talks. All parties pay lip service to whatever you want to hear. All comes down to what makes sense financially. critical service? How are children’s mental health services in your area? How are disability services in your area? Why are smaller hospitals staffed with inexperienced locums? Want me to go on? If you want to go the politics road, this is just another political football, none of them really care. Doesn’t matter who’s in power and if you think it does there’s no help for you. All that matters is what makes sense on the bottom line. Firefighters deserve more, no argument, but like anything there’s a tipping point. @Sean Henehan talks about turnout times, if the busier stations are full time that solves that problem. If you genuinely believe that any other party has anything different to offer than look at European politics for the last 100 years. It’s all the same, campaign in poetry and govern in prose.
I dont understand how they expect part time firefighters to get a second job when they are constantly on call. Who in their right mind would hire them. Maybe they should be guaranteed the option of a local council/government job when they join the fire service so they have a steady income they can rely on as well as being able to drop and go when on call?
How about a poll on public support for these brave people? I’d say it would be overwhelming in favour
have your say