Tag Archives: android

The Friday List at #neato

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A few interesting articles I’ve bumped into this week, curated from my Pocket and shared for your enjoyment. This week was full of good reads on growth strategies, the health benefits of standing desks in elementary schools, and why some men lie about working so much. Happy Friday!

“Should Your Kids’ School Have Standing Desks? These CrossFitters Think So“

I’ve had a standing desk for eight years and love it. My back, legs, and overall body has felt better compared to when I sat in a chair. Have you ever tried it?

“Why Some Men Pretend to Work 80-Hour Weeks”

This was a really interesting study. I often feel compelled to work as much as possible (read = I enjoy working), but it needs to be my choice. Corporate cultures that prevent you from making that choice can be really damning to overall employee health and productivity.

“Google will reportedly let Android developers A/B test apps on Google Play“

At Contactive we tried to test our Google Play descriptions but had to do it manually (and sequentially). This will be really helpful for app developers as they can quickly test pricing or description content.

“A Founder of Secret, the Anonymous Social App, Is Shutting It Down“

I don’t think it’s wrong that the founders took $3M each and bounced out. Isn’t that better than running a company into the ground?

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When Android Wear, Android Auto and Android TV launch this fall, they’ll solve a problem that has plagued Android since day one: an inconsistent user experience across devices. Ars Technica’s Andrew Cunningham points out that unlike Android phones from different manufacturers that sport ugly custom UIs, launchers and interacting with Android on different smartwatches was exactly the same. In fact, Google’s engineering director, David Burke, told Cunningham that with Wear, Auto and TV, the underlying software and interfaces will be controlled by Google, not the OEMs.

This is a move very similar to Microsoft did with Windows Phone 7: they told the OEM’s to get out of the way of design and made it an imperative to design from the bottom of the OS all the way up to the user. The result? A beautiful, consistent experience across disparate devices – a.k.a. the Apple Method.

Google, Not Device Makers, Will Control Android Wear, Auto and TV UI

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“If Google Now became more integrated into Android, the OS might function more like one of those contextual homescreen/launchers, like Aviate (acquired by Yahoo) or Cover, which place relevant apps on Android’s lockscreen.

The difference is that Google Now would not be just a layer on top of the OS, but a deeper part of the OS that’s capable of gathering data from the apps that run upon it and using that data to provide users with relevant, timely information and intelligent suggestions.”

“A Sneak Peak into the future of Android” via TechCrunch

Interesting news about the direction of the Android platform. The deep integration of Google Now is both exciting and scary.

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These ‘invisible apps’ are less about the way they look or how many features they cram in and more about maximizing their usefulness to you without monopolizing your attention.

“Foursquare’s Swarm And The Rise Of The Invisible App” via TechCrunch

Great article that talks about how apps have progressed from trying to be destinations, then to launchers, and now to “invisible” experiences that help you contextually and stay out of the way. This is especially true for mobile information workers and how they can best experience productivity apps.