Android 12 is trying to copy Apple’s walled garden — and that’s bad news
Android 12 is trying to re-create Apple's walled garden — and that's bad news
Android 12 could exist taking a leaf out of iOS' volume with a recent decision to lock down a basic part of its UX.
Every bit reported by XDA Developers, the share sheet - the niggling menu that pops up with apps and contacts when you lot press the share push button - looks equally if it'southward losing customizability. It's a small-scale change that could reflect much bigger shifts in how Android works down the line, and ones that may prove unpopular with its biggest fans.
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Currently, Android allows developers and device makers to customize the look of the share sheet when used inside their apps, and for users to download 3rd-party share sheets to use instead. That stands in stark contrast to the iOS share sheet, which looks and behaves identically no matter where you access information technology from.
For Android 12, however, it looks similar Google's no longer going to offer this liberty. When the developer of third-party share sheet Sharedr left a message on the IssueTracker for the Android Open Source Projection complaining that his app didn't piece of work with Android 12, a Google representative replied to him saying:
"We had never actually intended to allow apps to replace the share dialog, that Intent is for apps to launch the share dialog. Beingness able to replace the share dialog is also becoming increasingly impossible — you couldn't implement the directly share part of the UI, nor the personal vs. piece of work profile tabs in R, etc. This is just not something that is feasible to allow apps to replace."
At that place are some unimpressed responses to this in the rest of the thread, but the bottom line is that at that place'south no way around using Google's default share sheet in Android 12. Every bit XDA points out, however, it'south non clear whether this only applies to app developers, or if phone-maker versions of Android, such as Samsung's One UI or OnePlus' OxygenOS, will as well be barred from making these changes. Either mode, unless Google really shapes up the currently terrible and unreliable share menu, this could be a really abrasive thing to lock downwards.
A bad omen?
Android has e'er been more than open to user tinkering than iOS, cheers to its open-source core. Fifty-fifty though the share canvas is only a pocket-sized office of the whole Android experience, it could indicate the start of a big alter to assert Google as the final dominance on Android'south behaviour, rather than the caretaker role it currently fills.
The tempting part of and then-called "walled gardens" like iOS and the Apple ecosystem is that it tin lead to amazing user experiences where everything ties together logically, and software works in harmony with the hardware. But what gets lost is user selection and liberty to alter things to their personal preference, particularly if they accept the confidence and noesis to alter things behind the scenes. If Android 12 is to follow in iOS' path, and then it may mean expert things for the average Android telephone possessor, but not for its most defended users.
Blocking 3rd-party developers is arguably bad enough, but if Google stops letting custom Android launchers making changes as well, then this would exist a tragedy. The individual character and feature sets of Android telephone makers' takes on Android are important parts of the phone-buying experience. Limiting this capability for Samsung, OnePlus et al. would prove very unpopular with long-fourth dimension users of these brands' devices, who are used to a company's unique set of optimizations.
We've still got a few months until the stable version of Android 12 starts rolling out to devices, so information technology's possible this story volition develop more, or exist joined by similar tales about other features. If this does marking the start of a trend, and without significant contest to offer a similar level of customizability, then Android developers and fans who currently enjoy the freedom to tinker volition be left with nowhere to get.
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Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/android-12-is-trying-to-copy-apples-walled-garden-and-thats-bad-news
Posted by: phippsfince1998.blogspot.com
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