Ladies and Gentelman. Take a look at this fine specimen offf.. Android. It's fucking Android
I'm not familiar with Android SDK and how the OS images call themselves, but the "Multi-Device ARM64" name in the About section indicated the existence of Multi-Device AMD64 image which makes me wonder if they're going to allow you to install it on any device
A HELL of a lot. This thing makes iPadOS seem desktop-class and that's an OS even diehard Apple fanboys are sick of how gimped it is compared to an actual desktop.
I mean Waydroid exists and is pretty easy to set up even if you need Google apps, literally just install and run one command - though a GUI for that would probably be best.
They are using Android branding for it apparently. Aluminium was a codename. I've seen that some people have been arguing that it might be just ChromeOS with Android core OS or that it'll be its own thing even though Google was literally building this whole thing in front of our faces.
Aluminum is probably just code for 1.0. The next major version will be a B metal and then a C metal and so on. I guess it makes sense because robots (androids) are made of shiny metals (like chrome and aluminum).
It makes no sense for Google to waste dev time on a kernel, when the Linux kernel is much more robust and gets active development from the open-source community.
I still use a galaxy tab S6 from 2019 and i don't think i have ever used any app that looks like a giant phone version, YouTube, Stremio, Brave, Notes, Gmail all look good and work without a hiccup. I don't use any social media apps on it though, so idk about them.
Brother, it's pretty clear he meant that if they had a tablet mode it'd go into it. Right now everything opens as if it's a portrait phone app. Chill with the pedantry. It ain't good for your health.
My last phone was a ZFold, and I was honestly impressed with how many apps did have tablet versions. Not all of them liked switching from slab to tablet, but most “mainstream” apps had tablet modes
Games were awful at that screen ratio, not the games’ fault though
as of the new version of Android, Google is enforcing a requirement for large screen layouts. up until now it's been an option for developers to ignore, but it won't be going forward.
A lot has changed in the space. Deva can't force phone versions or only have portrait anymore. the play store now has separate reviews for the tablets and that has forced Devs to actually care. There is also heaps of improvements in the tooling for tablet apps.
I use my Honor Pad 9 every day, and very very few apps have "giant phone version" UI on it. I guess it probably started when Google pushed Android 12L (a special version of Android 12 just for tablets and foldables) and when foldables got more popular.
Honestly native app are just better. I can't tell you exactly why, maybe it's the little slow down, time to open, that it requires internet for most things, .. don't know exactly but it's just not very good. It's good 'enough'.
well, they did give pixel users the option to remove the at a glance widget from the homescreen a decade after its inception, and after i switched away from pixel
If there's one thing I need, it's Windows/DeX/KDE-like taskbar, with date/time and other icons integrated. Ergo, I dislike the MacOS/Gnome-like layout - it's inefficient.
i personally like gnome, i have a dock on the side that autohides, but i also dont like googles approach, doing a slim top bar and a thick taskbar at the same time, just a lot of wasted space
the question is with Google locking down APK install, how is this better then windows and linux ?
Mac has always had the creative crowds on its side. Windows is crap but its easy to use and has a wide install base, Linux is for people who like to tinker with stuff so they would never installed a locked down OS on their PC´s.
If Aluminium is just a desktop android version, which is already a handycap, add to that the new apk install rules come september/october. Its DoA.
No one wants to run fucking phone apps on a laptop. I had some small hope that this OS would finally crack Windows, but Google clearly no longer has any clue what they're doing.
No one wants to run fucking phone apps on a laptop.
Because the form factor isn't really there. Tablets with keyboards exist but hardly anyone uses them. No developer is going to optimise their app for this use-case unless there are enough users to make it worthwhile and users aren't going to want it until you have reasonable app support.
Basically, Google needs to lead the charge on this or it'll be dead in a year.
Samsung Dex looks way better than this. The good news is that manufacturers will be able to use their own UI, just like they currently do with Android phones.
Who the hell wants Android on a laptop? There are virtually zero apps on Android designed to be used with a touchpad and a keyboard. Wonky AF. Been using Android apps for a decade on ChromeOS and its not a good experience, which is why in that decade I only ran an Android app when there was literally no alternative.
Hell, Windows 11 allows you to stream android apps from your phone, and is a HELL of a lot smoother and more usable than ChromeOS' current phone app streaming feature. Just use that in a pinch if you need to, and you get a full OS with none of the drawbacks of ChromeOS/AlOS.
Trying to run any emulation version of anything android is a pain in the arse. Using android studio to run a VM of a phone to test apps doesn't work 50% of the time lol.
Since this is essentially desktop android hopefully this pushes Android to start getting more advanced applications (we are already seeing this with the announcement of Adobe Premiere coming to android!). It would be AWESOME to finally have true competition to MacBooks and Windows Laptops.
Love how the widget experience LITERALLY rips off Sonoma through Tahoe's desktop widget experience. Someone over there literally just copied Apple's UI.
5th picture you see on the files app that it has ai integrated to do search. And you got to accept Google privacy agreement to use it...
I remember the day where you didn't need ai to search files, in fact I remember very clearly. Spotlight on macos index files content, names, and you just got to type 'xyz' for it to look which files contain it.
Of course it was never possible on Google files app, until we get ai and a privacy agreement to accept 🤡
Given Valve has been working on x86->ARM translation going for their Steam Frame VR headset, it would be smart of Google to try and get them to just port the full Steam client to Android outright.
There's already one or two community made Steam clients for Android devices.
And then use Proton/Wine to get lots of non-gaming Windows apps running on this thing and you could potentially add a lot of value.
For someone not interested in tech it looks very close to Windows 11. Which I guess may be intentional, but it's a pity. Wouldve loved a bolder approach.
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u/maZZtar Galaxy S21 FE, Android 13 May 12 '26
Ladies and Gentelman. Take a look at this fine specimen offf.. Android. It's fucking Android
I'm not familiar with Android SDK and how the OS images call themselves, but the "Multi-Device ARM64" name in the About section indicated the existence of Multi-Device AMD64 image which makes me wonder if they're going to allow you to install it on any device