Google's Andromeda OS: What to expect?
Chrome OS and Android are two very different beasts. One is a cloud-centric experience that necessitates the use of a web browser to access a suite of online software and apps on less powerful hardware, while the other revolves entirely around apps being downloaded and installed onto the device itself. For a while, Google pursued both, not knowing which approach would prove more successful. However, with Android usage soaring, the big G has since decided to bake in native support for Android apps into Chrome OS, thus allowing users of the desktop OS access to its vast ecosystem of software via the Play Store. Now, if the new rumors are anything to go by, Andromeda might be a much larger, more ambitious initiative that could see Chrome features being introduced into Android, and not vice versa. This could potentially spell the end of Chrome OS and bring Android to the desktop environment.
Imagine the Pixel C running an OS much better suited at multitasking, complete with a desktop-like multiwindow environment, that's still Android at its core.
According to Android Police, Google will release the Pixel 3, codenamed “Bison”, sometime in Q3 2017, and it would not be marketed as a Chromebook, but rather as a full-fledged competitor to offerings by Microsoft and Apple. According to the rumors, “Bison” will support “tablet” mode, meaning that it could be a convertible device in the vein of the Lenovo Yoga series, or a detachable like Microsoft's Surface Book. Either way, it will likely move web-based software from the forefront to the back, in favor of a more independent and complete OS. This is not to say, however, that this concept will be ditched completely, as Google is bringing Instant Apps to Android, but it may take the back seat this time around.
Google now strongly recommends—which is a lightly-veiled warning that it’ll be mandatory soon—that every Chromebook include GPS, NFC, compass, accelerometer, a fingerprint reader, and a barometer. Those are all smartphone parts that have made little sense in a laptop before. But Android apps are inspiring manufacturers to make devices that move, that adapt, that take on different forms in different contexts.
It only makes sense for Google to try and forge an Android-powered desktop OS that can draw from the vast software pool of its mobile counterpart and offer a seamless experience for users when switching between devices. People are apparently becoming very excited at the prospect, which should be more than big enough an indicator as to what they want. Microsoft has been testing these waters for a while now with the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), which allows developers to create apps capable of running and adapting to different devices and screen sizes, but its success has been limited for a plethora of reasons. Could Google fare better?
We announced the 1st version of Android 8 years ago today. I have a feeling 8 years from now we'll be talking about Oct 4, 2016.
— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) September 24, 2016
Although vague, Lockheimer's tweet suggests something big is coming our way on October 4th, a game changer, in fact. He could not just be referencing the new Pixel phones, could he? Google has something bigger under wraps, something bearing far greater implications for the future of Android.
Things that are NOT allowed: