Let’s check out a few of the excessive factors for the Android platform in 2019, together with Android 10, Google Assistant, safety patches, and far more.
Image: Jason Cipriani/CNET
2019 wasn’t an ideal yr for Android, but it surely was actually a very good one. There had been options and gadgets that made the expertise richer, extra dependable, safe, and general user-friendly. Some of those highlights instantly affected finish customers, whereas others pattern towards the oblique class.Either method, there was a lot to be present in 2019 to deliver a rousing “huzzah” from the Android group. Let’s dig in and check out Android’s prime 10 highlights. SEE: Android present information: The finest presents in 2019 (free PDF) (TechRepublic)1. Google Pixel 4 digicamAlthough the
Pixel 4
cellphone, when taken as a complete, comes off as a low level of the yr (too pricey, horrible battery life, not sufficient RAM or storage), one characteristic to lift eyebrows in a great way is the digicam. Ever because the Pixel 3 arrived, Google’s line of smartphones have claimed the title of “best in show” for cellphone cameras, and the Pixel 4’s tackle the digicam didn’t disappoint. In truth, this specific characteristic of the system reset the usual by which all cellphone cameras will likely be judged. My guess is the subsequent cellphone to usurp that title would be the Pixel 5. Hopefully that iteration of the road will make up for the errors Google made with the Pixel 4.2. Android 10
I’ve been utilizing Android since model 1.5, so I’ve witnessed nearly each iteration of the platform because the starting. Without hesitation I can say that Android 10 is the only finest enchancment of the platform to have been launched. Sure, Google did away with the cutesy names for its working system, but it surely picked up critical credit score with hardcore customers. On each conceivable degree, Android 10 was a step ahead from Android 9—which says so much as a result of Android 9 was incredible. This iteration of Google’s cell OS performs sooner, smoother, and extra reliably than any launch thus far. It’s unlucky that this launch hasn’t made its approach to extra gadgets and should not earlier than yr’s finish. For those that have skilled Android 10, you perceive why this launch is taken into account a spotlight amongst highlights.3. Google Assistant
2019 is the yr that proved synthetic intelligence (AI) is on the coronary heart of all issues Android, together with: Email, messaging, Google Assistant, photographs, Google Lens, the Camera app, the stay caption characteristic on the Pixel 4 telephones, and so forth. Artificial Intelligence powers Smart Replies in numerous communication apps; it helps enhance battery life; it makes your photographs higher, and far more. I’d go as far as to say that 2019 was the yr that proved AI has develop into an integral a part of the Android platform. But, not one of the Android options has benefited as a lot because the Assistant. Thanks to a beneficiant injection of AI, Google Assistant is much more able to predicting what you need subsequent. Once AI begins to study your habits, it is nearly as if Google Assistant was made particularly for you. Another instance of how AI is shifting Google Assistant ahead is with the assistance of Duplex—an extension of Google Assistant. Android is now able to making restaurant reservations for you. Instead of you inserting the decision, Google Duplex, with the assistance of Google Assistant, speaks for you with an AI-based voice. “Hello, SkyNet, I’d like to place a reservation for two in your battery farm.”4. Google Pixel 3aWhere the Pixel 4 failed as an overpriced, underdelivering flagship, the Pixel 3a and 3a XL proved that Google can create an overperforming, budget-friendly smartphone. Google ought to have taken the reward of the Pixel 3a to coronary heart when it created the Pixel 4. Yes, the usual (non-a) Pixel telephones are the Google flagships and are sometimes used to show what will be completed, however when you possibly can promote a mid-range cellphone that performs above its station after which flip round and promote a high-end system that performs beneath its station, there are classes to be realized. Bottom line: The Pixel 3a is an impressive worth, and anybody trying to hop on board the Pixel categorical might do worse.5. Dark ModeFrom the workplace of “the squeaky wheel,” comes the characteristic that extra customers have been asking for from Google: Dark Mode. Although not a fan myself, there are an unlimited variety of Android followers who’ve been begging for Google to unleash this specific feature–and launch it did. Dark Mode is not simply to forestall eye pressure when viewing Android in darkish environments–it may also help save on battery life. This characteristic is a dual-purpose marvel that ought to have been launched a very long time in the past.6. Battery and reminiscence managementAfter upgrading from Android 9 to 10 on a Pixel 3, I skilled important enchancment in each battery and reminiscence administration. My system can now final nearly 24 hours (when not underneath heavy utilization) and performs prefer it was by some means gifted extra reminiscence with out my data. That’s how noticeable the enhancements are in Android 10. So anybody who suffered underneath poor battery life and reminiscence administration in 2018 might breath a terrific sigh of reduction this year–as lengthy as your system upgraded to Android 10.7. Security patchesGoogle lastly nailed the Android safety patches. Back in 2018, it appeared the discharge of Android patches was an afterthought. I’d see gadgets with patches that had been two to 3 months behind–not so in 2019. The Android Security Patch characteristic has develop into a well-oiled machine. This could not have come at a greater time with the continued rise of malware raining down on Android. 8. Much-improved share menuLet’s be sincere right here—up till 2019 (and Android 10) the Android share menu was a wreck. It was gradual, unreliable, and had a propensity to easily not know what you used probably the most. Fortunately Android 10–and it is unimaginable AI–solved all that ailed the share menu. Now, once you go to share one thing, that menu opens rapidly and has an uncanny understanding of what you utilize probably the most. The solely method Google might enhance the share menu could be to make it editable.9. Gesture navigationI know not everyone seems to be a fan of Android 10’s gesture-based navigation, however give it sufficient time, and you will find that it makes navigating the platform far more environment friendly. The builders did a masterful job of making an intuitive interface that not relies upon upon again buttons. Once you get the hold of swiping, you’ll not return. In truth, each time I decide up an Android system that does not have gesture-based navigation, I really feel like I’ve been teleported to the previous, the place clunky was an precise UX design resolution. 10. Private DNSGoogle lastly made Private DNS an choice in Android. Why is that this necessary? In a phrase, privateness. Private DNS is a extra user-friendly time period for DNS over TLS. It signifies that Android can now use a safety protocol for encrypting and wrapping Domain Name System queries and solutions through the Transport Layer Security protocol. In plain English: When you utilize any utility that requires DNS, it does so through an encrypted protocol, that means these queries are safer. In different phrases, it makes it tougher for anybody to snoop or use man-in-the-middle assaults to spy on you. This was a giant step ahead for Android safety.And there you’ve got it–10 Android highlights from 2019. It was a very good yr for Google’s platform. Hopefully, Google will construct on these successes to make 2020 even higher.
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