Thoughts on Google I/O 2017

Just some quick thoughts on I/O after catching the event last night. (I totally forgot to post this, haha)

Google Assistant is the next frontier:

Google Assistant (GA) is going to be a huge part of Google's future. With improvements to GA and the sort of new Google Lens (Goggles), I think we'll eventually start to see the shift away from the app paradigm that we're used to. I don't think it will go away completely just yet. Some apps will probably do better being a self-contained one for now (instagram, facebook, messaging apps), but a lot of services can probably do without an app.

I posted about something like this a about 2 years ago (https://axhng.blogspot.sg/2015/08/why-i-think-google-acquired-agawi.html), and basically instead of needing to install an app, like Uber for example, you can just use GA to book a ride, and it can poll various services at the same time and give you the best results. All while just talking/typing to it.

Basically, just like how we normally search for something in Google, and Google just gives us what they think is the best answer. GA might be able to do just that for apps and services. Just tell it what you want (like maybe a ride, food, or whatever), and Google will find you the best solution. All without the need to jump through all the hoops like downloading and trying apps, creating accounts, giving another service your payment information, etc.

From a user stand point, this is great. Instead of looking for the things you need manually from a specific app, you just need to tell GA what you want and it will give you the best answers, be it a taxi, food delivery, booking tickets, etc. GA can become the single most important service on your phone, and be the gateway to multiple apps and services.

BUT, this is heavily reliant on the developer's willingness to do this. For more established services, this would mean that people who traditionally relied on their app, might now have access to more services. So it would mean more competition for them. This is great for consumers because instead of relying on lock-ins, they would really need to improve their services in order to be recommended by GA.

Of course this also gives a lot of power to Google. They need to be as fair as possible and not play favouritism. So that could be a hurdle to getting more services on board too.

GA as a platform:

If the GA does take off, and I have a feeling it will (eventually), Android will probably no longer be as important for Google. Google has always been more about services, and GA allows them to do that. So for a lot of services, I can see them building just for GA instead of building a dedicated app. I mean would you prefer having multiple apps on your phone doing the same thing or just one app that recommends you the best option?

If GA can get enough support, it will also make it way easier for Google to make the transition over to another platform if need be. Like Google's Fuchsia OS for example. I mean with GA now available on iOS too, one can even say that Android might play a smaller role going forward. Becoming just one of the many vessels for GA.

Interestingly, they mentioned 500 million active users on Google Photos, 2 billion active users on Android, and a few more impressive numbers. But I don't remember them mentioning how many people are making use of Google Assistant. I'm guessing the number is probably not big enough for them to want to announce it just yet.

The future of Android:

For now, it seems the goal is reaching the next billion users. Android Go seems to be aa really interesting initiative, not just for budget devices, but maybe as a sort of low power mode too. So really looking forward to having cheap devices that doesn't suck. This would be amazing for first time smartphone buyers, or basic users.

Android O's improvements so far seems to be just adding improvements to android, more importantly to a few of its biggest issue. First being apps slowing down the phone's performance. Second being the efficiency of the OS when it comes to battery life. Third, trying to bring security to a more user facing side with Google Play Protect. Finally slow software updates with project Treble. Might not be terribly exciting, but is what I consider to be essential for the platform.

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Then we have a ton of other things announced here, but really I think the most important one is still Google Assistant. While there isn't really any new products here, I think it's still really interesting to see what Google is working on.