
Google I / O News 2019: Pixel 3a, Android Q, Kotlin and more

The flagship smartphone has a version that is half the price, retaining the same amazing camera. In the family of smart devices Google Home - and replenishment, and re-branding. In Android Q, further actions are taking place along the path outlined in Android P. And Kotlin officially becomes the preferred language for developing Android applications.
We watched the presentation of Google I / O, read a bunch of additions to it from different publications and made a single retelling of the main thing for Habr. All the details are under the cut.
Before the beginning

In addition to rumors and leaks, there was some news directly from Google before I / O: apparently, they decided to deal with the little things in advance, so that later they would not be distracted.
Android Auto has undergone a redesign . And also Google reminded the developers: in addition to Auto (which depends on the user's smartphone), Android Automotive OS (a “full-fledged” car version of Android) is ripening, the first car with it has already been announced (Volvo's Polestar 2 electric car, clearly marking Tesla's competitors), they say If your application is relevant for use in the car - keep in mind.
Wear OS is also an innovation: the so-called Tiles, allowing you to quickly jump to some data (heart rate, headers and the like). From the outside, it looks like “well, that means Wear OS has not yet died”: earlier, the future of watches for Android began to look foggy.
The Google Play Award has also been awarded to several applications. For example, in the nomination “use in the living room” the Neverthink application won, designed for the user to choose which video to watch next. In general, we have all seen for decades on the Internet an alternative to television, and now the Internet itself has become a television and encourages people to “never think.”
Finally, Google tweeted which direction the news will not do: the letter R was clearly capitalized here not by chance, but with a hint of Augmented Reality.
Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL

Here, mainly information was confirmed, which before that had already leaked. But in order to fully realize it, it’s worth starting with the context.
Once the Google Nexus line bribed people with a price / quality ratio: these smartphones did not claim to be the “most premium” ones, but in the middle price category they turned out to be an excellent option. Later, Google’s ambitions to “make the best phone in the world” grew, prices also gradually increased, and last year with Pixel 3 it came to a starting point of $ 799 (and the XL version had $ 899 altogether). In reviews, he was really considered as a flagship and was praised for much. But the sales were disappointing.
It seems that the market for expensive smartphones is oversaturated - and now Google has again turned to the middle segment, having made the budget version of Pixel 3. Its price is $ 399 (for the XL version - $ 479), that is, it turned out to be reduced by half. Why did you have to sacrifice for the sake of cheapening, and which of the flagships have you saved?
Maintained the main thing. "Pixels" are famous for the quality of shooting, and few argue that their cameras are among the best in the world. And in the Pixel 3a, the camera is the same as the "big brother", with all the same features - Night Shift (a night mode that squeezes surprisingly a lot in low light conditions), Super Res Zoom (improving digital zoom due to computational photography) , etc.
Another important feature of Pixel is preserved: “clean” Android with a promise of updates for three years. Part of the technical characteristics also has not changed: the same 4 gigabytes of RAM (for the flagship, this is already considered a little, but for the "average" is suitable), two screen diagonals to choose from (5.6 "for the base model and 6" for XL).
And then what was simplified? The case is plastic, the processor is simpler (it uses Snapdragon 670 instead of Snapdragon 845), there is no wireless charging and moisture protection, Daydream VR is not supported. If we compare the XL versions, then the resolution has also become lower (2160 × 1080 instead of 2960 × 1440). And if, in addition to the Pixel 3, it’s possible to download everything shot in Google Photos in the original resolution (including 4K video), then the Pixel 3a is just like regular Android phones: you can download everything in good quality for free and endlessly, but if you want to save the original files , they will eat up space under standard Google Drive terms.
The phone is on sale right from today (well, in the USA, and not in Russia, where the Pixel is not officially sold at all). The Verge has already published a review, brief summary: if you buy a phone within $ 500, then don’t hesitate, in this segment the camera makes everyone.
However, during the presentation, the audience in the hall was especially lively when they talked about a moment that is not even mentioned above: the budget Pixel 3a will have a headphone jack. The "full-fledged" Pixel 3 with a price tag twice as high, recall, it is not. That's what people really want from phones!
Nest hub max

The second hardware announcement of the event is the smart screen. Here, too, it is worth starting with the context.
In 2016, the Google Home column was introduced on Google I / O. She did a good job with voice commands, but her work just as a “column” (playing music) was simply called “normal”. Many wanted more.
In 2017, this “bigger” came in the form of Google Home Max: also a speaker, but already for powerful sound in stereo.
In 2018, the “smart screen with speaker” appeared Google Home Hub. The launch of YouTube videos, a digital photo frame, touch control of a smart home - in general, the display added many features to the column. But he is with a 7-inch screen and very mediocre sound, it’s uncomfortable to watch from youtube together at dinner. Many wanted more.
Well and now, in 2019, this is more: a 10-inch screen with stereo speakers. And with a camera (works for video calls, and as a security camera). Which knows how to ensure that during a conversation a person is in the center of the frame, even if he is moving. Since the words “Google wants to bring you a camera that can follow you” do not sound very attractive, there is a physical button to turn off the camera and microphone. From a performance point of view, the screen resolution of 1280x800 looks like a weak point, but for a “kitchen” device, this may not be a problem. Will be sold in the United States in the summer for $ 229.
With brands, of course, there was a mess. Google once bought Nest, and it's about smart home, so it looks logical with the Home lineup. But first, Google didn’t get it into smart screens, leaving it as the "thermostat company." And now, not only gave the new device the name Nest Hub Max, but also the previous device, which has long been sold as a Home Hub, renamed to Nest Hub. In the columns of Google Home, the name so far remains the same, but later this will change. There are reasons for all this , but it's scary to imagine how many people get confused.
Android Q

Generally speaking, much was known about Android Q in this way: the first beta version was released in March, and application developers sighed freely that in the name of user happiness, Google again tightens the screws. But the company did not reveal all the cards at once, so that on Google I / O it was possible to add at least something to the already known, and at the same time with the presentation they released the third beta.
A feature from the Live Caption featured as a surprise from the scene: the ability for any video (even for video chat) to include subtitles generated on the go. It will help both deaf / hard of hearing people and people who want to watch a video without sound so as not to disturb others. Voice recognition takes place entirely on the device, nothing is sent to the server. On the one hand, of course, this is a tangible step forward, on the other - it is recalled that autosubtitles on YouTube now leave much to be desired.
More expected is a dark theme for the entire OS. This is both a matter of personal preference and convenience, and a question of battery power: in the case of OLED screens, it helps to last longer.
A number of innovations of last year's Android P were developed in Q. The gesture system (which many criticized) was improved, the parental control system was also expanded, and the topic of “digital well-being” was expanded with the new “Focus Mode”. The meaning is this: often for concentration you need to temporarily get rid of distracting notifications, but at the same time it would be too much to turn off all notifications, you don’t want to miss SMS. And with this mode, you can disconnect only a few - for example, from social networks.
Some security updates will begin to be delivered via Google Play - so that even for careless vendors who do not update their smartphones, users are still safe.
They also talked about folding smartphones with such enthusiasm, as if there was no loud failure of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, and about 5G with such enthusiasm, as if Android had some kind of gigantic merit in supporting these networks (apparently, it meant “and in the iPhone 5G there is no azaz ").
Google Assistant / Google Lens
The voice assistant continues to gradually grow wiser.
Last year, I / O was impressed by the demo of the Duplex project, capable of booking a table in a restaurant per person over the phone. Now in Duplex on the Web the scope is expanded to bookings on the web, where the assistant can fill in the majority of the fields on the form for the owner. When all this can help an ordinary Russian is incomprehensible (a telephone Duplex a year after the announcement, even in the USA it does not work in all states, and Duplex on the Web now has no premiere date at all). But impressive, of course.
Voice recognition could be pushed into the phone itself, and now Google Assitant will learn how to respond to voice commands without network delay, which in some scenarios makes it more convenient than poking on the screen. But it will appear "later this year", and at first "only on the new Pixel."
Google Lens will also grow wiser: for example, if you just point the camera at a check in a restaurant, the phone will understand what it is, so it will help to easily calculate tips and divide the result by the number of people. It seems that the centuries-old problem of mankind has just been resolved "let's figure out who owes how much!" Although no, wait, it still depends on who ordered what ...
And 3D models will appear right in Google’s search results - and with the help of augmented reality it will be possible to watch how it would look in the real world. It turns out that the teaser “ARe you ready” was about this:
Kotlin
Another notable thing was not announced during the main presentation, but it was mentioned in a separate developer keynote and an accompanying blog post for Android developers.
Two years ago, at Google I / O 2017, Kotlin became the “officially supported language for Android development”, gaining equal rights with Java on the platform. And now that he has clearly established himself, Google goes further and declares “Android development will become increasingly Kotlin-first”: the language officially becomes not only supported, but preferred . If before Google did not give recommendations on choosing between Java and Kotlin, now the company directly says: we ourselves are actively using Kotlin, and we advise you to do the same.
Generally speaking, for those closely following what was happening, this is not so news. The company's actions in this direction were noticeable before: for example, in the documentation code examples are given in two languages, and by default it is Kotlin options that are displayed. But in 2017, the announcement of official support was also not the most surprising - and at the same time, after it, the popularity of the language jumped sharply. Perhaps the new statement will also play a prominent role.
From other news for Android developers, there are new things in Android Jetpack (for example, Jetpack Compose for working with UI), they are described in the same blog post .
Other
In addition to Live Caption, there was a number of actions towards accessibility. Project Euphonia helps voice control work correctly even when a person says “non-standard” for some reason (deafness, stuttering, and so on). And the ability to translate labels, which was already in Google Translate, goes further: pointing the phone’s camera, it will be easy to hear the pronunciation of the label in the original language, even in the translated one. It will be available "on phones from $ 35" - thereby helping people from the least successful regions who do not know literacy at all.
They also talked about privacy. Although Google does not fall under such a barrage of criticism as Facebook, the company also has a reputation as a hunter for user data - and they obviously want to get away from it. Thanks to changes in your Google Account, it’s now becoming slightly easier to understand what Google knows about you and to make it forget some of this. And incognito mode will appear in Google Maps.
Finally - a small curious moment. On Habré only recently discussed that machine learning can be biased due to the characteristics of the dataset, and it is difficult for a person to notice this. So: Google in the presentation spoke directly about this. In this spirit: "Yes, we understand this, and we want to fight this, and for this we isolate the factors that influence the adoption of a specific decision."
We will consider it involuntary greetings to Habr from Google.
Once you get to the end of this text - you may be a mobile developer who is interested in everything related to Android. In this case, we want to draw your attention to the Mobius conference , which we will hold in St. Petersburg on May 22-23: there will be a lot of interesting things about Android (and iOS, too).