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mardi 14 janvier 2020

Exclusive: Leaked Samsung Galaxy S20+ Hands-on confirms 120Hz display, ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner, and no headphone jack

The Samsung Galaxy S20 series is Samsung’s next mainstream flagship series, and all eyes are set on the top Android OEM for its biggest guns yet. We know that Samsung is skipping over the Galaxy S11 moniker in favor of “Galaxy S20”, and we have brought to you other leaks detailing some of the upcoming camera features on the phone. More recently, we also brought to you the first live images of the Galaxy S20+, but our leaks don’t stop there. We have been able to confirm some more details about the Galaxy S20+ display and the in-display fingerprint scanner.

Galaxy S20+ XDA Forums ||| Galaxy S20 XDA Forums

Display Resolution and Aspect Ratio

First off, the display on the Galaxy S20+ comes in at 3200 x 1440 pixels, thanks to the taller 20:9 aspect ratio. We weren’t able to confirm the exact display size/diagonal.

A taller aspect ratio on a large display ends up making the phone a lot more comfortable to hold and use. It all around ends up looking more modern as well. All of the Galaxy S20 series — Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra — will come in this aspect ratio and display resolution. This means the rumored 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays on the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20 Ultra are unlikely to feel unwieldy.

Fingerprint Scanner

Our source was also able to confirm something else: the ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner. Some rumors speculated that the Galaxy S20 series would ditch the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner in favor of an optical fingerprint scanner. However, we can confirm that this is not true. The Galaxy S20+ will feature an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner.

We were able to confirm this was an ultrasonic scanner and not an optical scanner by checking if the scanner area lights up, as that is the primary visual difference between the two and the easiest way to tell the two technologies apart. In the case of an optical fingerprint scanner, the scanner area on the display is lit up brightly; while an ultrasonic sensor needs no light for its functioning. The Galaxy S20+ does not light up the fingerprint area (other than the display’s regular brightness levels), which essentially confirms the ultrasonic sensor.

Samsung Galaxy S20+ Fingerprint Samsung Galaxy S20+ Fingerprint

Most of us did assume that the Samsung flagships would opt for Qualcomm’s new 3D Sonic Max ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. However, we could not confirm this particular detail. We even tried to locate if there are any settings for scanning two fingers simultaneously – as that is a highlight feature of the new sensor – but we could not locate any. So whether the phone uses the older sensor or the newer sensor remains to be seen.

120Hz Display

Another discovery from our source is the confirmation of the 120Hz display. We were also able to get a picture of the device with the 120Hz settings toggle, confirming that the phone does indeed support the feature. This makes the S20 series the first from Samsung phone with a refresh rate above 60Hz. It’s good to see Samsung, the largest display OLED manufacturer in the world, embracing the high refresh rate trend on smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy S20+ 120Hz Refresh Rate

There was also some concern about the display only being able to push 120Hz at the FHD+ resolution. We have been able to confirm this is true. Our source was only able to run his Galaxy S20+ at 120Hz while using the FHD+ display mode. We were able to follow up and confirm this by examining the strings in the Settings app which state “High refresh rate isn’t supported in WQHD+. Your screen will change to standard refresh rate.”

Design

Some of you might also want to see what the phone looks like while in use. Luckily, our source was able to get us a video of the Galaxy S20+ 5G where the phone is momentarily flipped around. It gives us some more size and scale to the device along with showing off the cameras and the display a bit better.

The Galaxy S20+ is also the first S-series flagship without a headphone jack. Our source was able to confirm to us that it does come with the AKG USB Type-C earbuds. These are likely the same as the earbuds that came with the Galaxy Note 10. They were also able to confirm that the Galaxy S20+ will come with a Super Fast charger in the box. The Galaxy S20+ will support 25W fast charging with the same system as the Note 10.

The Galaxy S20+ is a massive device, coming in much taller than the Galaxy S10+. In the picture below, the S20+ and the S10+ are shown side by side. You can easily see how massive the S20+ is in comparison. The Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G is rumored to be even larger than the S20+.

Samsung Galaxy S20+ and Samsung Galaxy S10+ - Comparison

Base Specifications

Device info apps report that the Galaxy S20+ comes with 11GB of RAM, likely to be advertised as 12GB. Allegedly, Samsung will utilize LPDDR5 RAM, which is supported by the memory controller of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. The S20+ will also come with 128GB of (presumably UFS 3.0) storage and with a rated battery capacity of 4,500 mAh and a typical capacity of 4,370 mAh.

Samsung Galaxy S20+ Battery Samsung Galaxy S20+ Storage and RAM

The Samsung Galaxy S20+ all around looks like an amazing device. The absence of the new Qualcomm fingerprint scanner and headphone jack are a bit of a bummer, but at least we are getting an amazing, massive 120Hz display. These devices really do seem incredible. I’m very excited to hear more about the two other phones and the Galaxy Z Flip at Samsung Unpacked on February 11th.

The post Exclusive: Leaked Samsung Galaxy S20+ Hands-on confirms 120Hz display, ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner, and no headphone jack appeared first on xda-developers.



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Honor 9X global variant launches in India after a long wait, Honor Magic Watch 2 and Band 5i accompany

Huawei and sub-brand Honor have been badly hit due to the U.S. President Trump’s executive orders to bar companies (including Google) from transacting with the Chinese giant. The orders came in May 2019 and since then, there have been multiple extensions to the final date when these orders come into play, leading to a long period of confusion and frustration for company officials, fans, and especially Huawei and Honor users. After a long hiatus from what seems to be a speculative period for the company, Honor is bringing the Honor 9X – which was actually introduced last year – to India.

Honor 9X XDA Forums

The Honor 9X was first unveiled alongside a more powerful Pro variant in July 2019, in China. The phone features an X-shaped holographic gradient on the back, a full notchless display, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and a pop-up selfie camera. Further, both the Honor 9X and the 9X Pro were powered by Huawei’s new 7nm silicon, the Kirin 810.

However, when Honor launched the phone in Europe in October 2019, there were certain trade-offs that had to be made. Since the executive orders prevented new Huawei and Honor devices from being certified for Android, the company had to choose older hardware to be able to retain GMS (Google Mobile Services). Therefore, there is only a single global version of Honor 9X; it comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, 12nm Kirin 710F chipset (same as Kirin 710) and the same is being launched in India today.

The Honor 9X which is being launched in India today is also fairly identical to the Huawei Y9 Prime (2019) in terms of design. The 6.59-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display, 4,000mAh battery, USB Type-C, and the 16MP pop-up camera are some of the physical attributes both of the phones share besides the Kirin 710F SoC. When it comes to the rear cameras, the Honor 9X global features a 48MP primary camera, an 8MP wide-angle camera, and a 2MP depth sensor.

In terms of software, the Honor 9X runs EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9 Pie. The phone could receive EMUI 10 based on Android 10 but there’s no final date available yet.

Honor 9X India Specifications

Specification Honor 9X
Dimensions and Weight 163.5 x 77.3 x 8.8 mm;
196.8g
Display 6.59″ FHD+ (2340x1080p) IPS-LCD;
91% screen-to-body-ratio;
TUV Rheinland-certified
SoC 12nm HiSilicon Kirin 710F
RAM and Storage 4GB + 128GB;
6GB+128GB;
Expandable up to 512GB through dedicated microSD card slot
Battery 4,000 mAh
USB Type-C
Rear Camera 48MP, f/1.8 + 8MP, f/2.4 120-degree ultra-wide + 2MP, f/2.4 depth sensor
Front Camera 16MP, f/2.2
Android Version EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9 Pie

Honor Magic Watch 2

Besides the Honor 9X smartphone, Honor is also launching the Magic Watch 2 in India. The watch is powered by the Kirin A1 chipset meant for power-efficiency and long-lasting battery life over high performance. It runs LiteOS which may not very convincing for smartwatch users and limits usability to just custom watchfaces. Among other features, the Honor Magic Watch 2 gets 15 fitness tracking modes, a stress meter, and extensive sleep tracking. There is no automatic workout detection or IP rating.

Honor Magic Watch 2 Specification

Specification 46mm Honor Magic Watch 2 42mm Honor Magic Watch 2
Display 1.39-inch 454×454 AMOLED display 1.2-inch 390×390 AMOLED display
SOC Kirin A1 Kirin A1
Battery 455 mAh 215 mAh
Connectivity Bluetooth v5.1, Wi-Fi, dual-frequency GPS Bluetooth v5.1, Wi-Fi, dual-frequency GPS
Health Features Heart rate, sleep tracking, stress monitor, breathing guidance, 15 fitness modes Heart rate, sleep tracking, stress monitor, breathing guidance, 15 fitness modes
Water Resistance 50 meters water-resistant, not IP-rated 50 meters water-resistant, not IP-rated
Storage Capacity 4GB 4GB
Software Version LiteOS LiteOS

Honor Band 5i

Another product that Honor brings to the fore today is the Honor Band 5i, which is a more affordable variant of the Honor Band 5. The Honor Band 5i features a 0.96-inch TFT display instead of an AMOLED with a lower resolution compared to the Honor Band 5. One of the ends of the Honor Band 5i comes with a male USB plug built-in so it can be directly plugged into a USB Type-A port for charging.

honor band 5i

The Honor Band 5i features a 190mAh battery with a claimed standby time of 9 days. There’s no NFC support on the Band 5i and besides the optical heart rate sensor, it features a 3-axis accelerometer.

Honor Band 5 vs Band 5i Specification

Specification Honor Band 5 Honor Band 5i
Display
  • 0.95-inch AMOLED color touch screen
  • Resolution: 240×120
  • 0.96-inch TFT color touch screen
  • Resolution: 160×80
Battery 100mAh, 15 days standby  91mAh, 9 days standby
Connectivity Bluetooth v4.2 Bluetooth v4.2
Health Features
  • 10 fitness tracking modes
  • optical heart rate sensor
  • 6-axis gyroscope
  • 9 fitness tracking modes
  • optical heart rate sensor
  • 3-axis gyroscope
Water Resistance 50 meters 50 meters
NFC Yes (optional) No

Price & Availability

The Honor 9X will be available in two variants – 4GB/128GB and 6GB/128GB. The 4GB RAM variant will be priced at ₹13,999 (~$200) while the 6GB RAM variant will be available for ₹16,999 (~$240). These will be available in India via Flipkart starting January 19th, 2020.

The 42mm variant of the Honor Magic Watch 2 is priced starting at ₹11,999 (~$170) while the 46mm variant will be priced starting at ₹12,999 (~$185). The Honor Band 5i will be available for ₹1,999 (~$20). The Honor Magic Watch 2 and the Band 5i will be available via Amazon India starting January 19th, 2020.

The post Honor 9X global variant launches in India after a long wait, Honor Magic Watch 2 and Band 5i accompany appeared first on xda-developers.



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Honor 9X global variant launches in India after a long wait, Honor Magic Watch 2 and Band 5i accompany

Huawei and sub-brand Honor have been badly hit due to the U.S. President Trump’s executive orders to bar companies (including Google) from transacting with the Chinese giant. The orders came in May 2019 and since then, there have been multiple extensions to the final date when these orders come into play, leading to a long period of confusion and frustration for company officials, fans, and especially Huawei and Honor users. After a long hiatus from what seems to be a speculative period for the company, Honor is bringing the Honor 9X – which was actually introduced last year – to India.

Honor 9X XDA Forums

The Honor 9X was first unveiled alongside a more powerful Pro variant in July 2019, in China. The phone features an X-shaped holographic gradient on the back, a full notchless display, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and a pop-up selfie camera. Further, both the Honor 9X and the 9X Pro were powered by Huawei’s new 7nm silicon, the Kirin 810.

However, when Honor launched the phone in Europe in October 2019, there were certain trade-offs that had to be made. Since the executive orders prevented new Huawei and Honor devices from being certified for Android, the company had to choose older hardware to be able to retain GMS (Google Mobile Services). Therefore, there is only a single global version of Honor 9X; it comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, 12nm Kirin 710F chipset (same as Kirin 710) and the same is being launched in India today.

The Honor 9X which is being launched in India today is also fairly identical to the Huawei Y9 Prime (2019) in terms of design. The 6.59-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display, 4,000mAh battery, USB Type-C, and the 16MP pop-up camera are some of the physical attributes both of the phones share besides the Kirin 710F SoC. When it comes to the rear cameras, the Honor 9X global features a 48MP primary camera, an 8MP wide-angle camera, and a 2MP depth sensor.

In terms of software, the Honor 9X runs EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9 Pie. The phone could receive EMUI 10 based on Android 10 but there’s no final date available yet.

Honor 9X India Specifications

Specification Honor 9X
Dimensions and Weight 163.5 x 77.3 x 8.8 mm;
196.8g
Display 6.59″ FHD+ (2340x1080p) IPS-LCD;
91% screen-to-body-ratio;
TUV Rheinland-certified
SoC 12nm HiSilicon Kirin 710F
RAM and Storage 4GB + 128GB;
6GB+128GB;
Expandable up to 512GB through dedicated microSD card slot
Battery 4,000 mAh
USB Type-C
Rear Camera 48MP, f/1.8 + 8MP, f/2.4 120-degree ultra-wide + 2MP, f/2.4 depth sensor
Front Camera 16MP, f/2.2
Android Version EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9 Pie

Honor Magic Watch 2

Besides the Honor 9X smartphone, Honor is also launching the Magic Watch 2 in India. The watch is powered by the Kirin A1 chipset meant for power-efficiency and long-lasting battery life over high performance. It runs LiteOS which may not very convincing for smartwatch users and limits usability to just custom watchfaces. Among other features, the Honor Magic Watch 2 gets 15 fitness tracking modes, a stress meter, and extensive sleep tracking. There is no automatic workout detection or IP rating.

Honor Magic Watch 2 Specification

Specification 46mm Honor Magic Watch 2 42mm Honor Magic Watch 2
Display 1.39-inch 454×454 AMOLED display 1.2-inch 390×390 AMOLED display
SOC Kirin A1 Kirin A1
Battery 455 mAh 215 mAh
Connectivity Bluetooth v5.1, Wi-Fi, dual-frequency GPS Bluetooth v5.1, Wi-Fi, dual-frequency GPS
Health Features Heart rate, sleep tracking, stress monitor, breathing guidance, 15 fitness modes Heart rate, sleep tracking, stress monitor, breathing guidance, 15 fitness modes
Water Resistance 50 meters water-resistant, not IP-rated 50 meters water-resistant, not IP-rated
Storage Capacity 4GB 4GB
Software Version LiteOS LiteOS

Honor Band 5i

Another product that Honor brings to the fore today is the Honor Band 5i, which is a more affordable variant of the Honor Band 5. The Honor Band 5i features a 0.96-inch TFT display instead of an AMOLED with a lower resolution compared to the Honor Band 5. One of the ends of the Honor Band 5i comes with a male USB plug built-in so it can be directly plugged into a USB Type-A port for charging.

honor band 5i

The Honor Band 5i features a 190mAh battery with a claimed standby time of 9 days. There’s no NFC support on the Band 5i and besides the optical heart rate sensor, it features a 3-axis accelerometer.

Honor Band 5 vs Band 5i Specification

Specification Honor Band 5 Honor Band 5i
Display
  • 0.95-inch AMOLED color touch screen
  • Resolution: 240×120
  • 0.96-inch TFT color touch screen
  • Resolution: 160×80
Battery 100mAh, 15 days standby  91mAh, 9 days standby
Connectivity Bluetooth v4.2 Bluetooth v4.2
Health Features
  • 10 fitness tracking modes
  • optical heart rate sensor
  • 6-axis gyroscope
  • 9 fitness tracking modes
  • optical heart rate sensor
  • 3-axis gyroscope
Water Resistance 50 meters 50 meters
NFC Yes (optional) No

Price & Availability

The Honor 9X will be available in two variants – 4GB/128GB and 6GB/128GB. The 4GB RAM variant will be priced at ₹13,999 (~$200) while the 6GB RAM variant will be available for ₹16,999 (~$240). These will be available in India via Flipkart starting January 19th, 2020.

The 42mm variant of the Honor Magic Watch 2 is priced starting at ₹11,999 (~$170) while the 46mm variant will be priced starting at ₹12,999 (~$185). The Honor Band 5i will be available for ₹1,999 (~$20). The Honor Magic Watch 2 and the Band 5i will be available via Amazon India starting January 19th, 2020.

The post Honor 9X global variant launches in India after a long wait, Honor Magic Watch 2 and Band 5i accompany appeared first on xda-developers.



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lundi 13 janvier 2020

Chrome OS 80 introduces Android 10-like gesture navigation

Back in 2014, Google added Android app support on Chrome OS — the company’s light-weight operating system for more traditional computing form factors. Thanks to the Android app support, Chrome OS-powered machines weren’t just limited to web-based applications and users could enjoy their favorite Android applications on a larger device with keyboard and mouse support. Late last year, Chrome OS 80 was rolled out in the Dev channel and it added support for sideloading Android apps without Developer Mode. Now, Google is rolling out more new features in Chrome OS 80 as it hits the beta channel.

As reported by Android Police, Chrome OS 80 includes two more features ported over from Android — gesture navigation and multiple quick settings pages. In case you’re on the Chome OS beta channel, you can use the new gestures by enabling the modular shelf flag for Chrome. For those of you who already had this enabled in Chrome OS 79, the feature will disable itself following the update and you’ll have to turn it on again.

As seen in the video above, the gestures work quite a bit like the ones Google released with Android 10 and allow you to swipe up to go back to home, swipe from the sides to go back, and swipe up and hold to open the overview screen. However, the back gesture on Chrome OS only works on the left edge of the display. There’s an additional gesture that can be used to show the app dock and it requires users to swipe up a short distance quickly from the bottom of the screen. As of now, the old pull down from the top to go back to home gesture still works but we can’t be sure if it will be available when the update lands on the stable channel.

Along with the new navigation gestures, the Chrome OS 80 beta release also adds multiple quick settings pages to the platform. Unlike Android, however, you can’t change the order of the tiles or add custom tiles in quick settings. It’s worth noting that both these new features are currently a work in progress and Google might make some further changes before the build hits the stable channel.


Via: Android Police

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Chrome OS 80 introduces Android 10-like gesture navigation

Back in 2014, Google added Android app support on Chrome OS — the company’s light-weight operating system for more traditional computing form factors. Thanks to the Android app support, Chrome OS-powered machines weren’t just limited to web-based applications and users could enjoy their favorite Android applications on a larger device with keyboard and mouse support. Late last year, Chrome OS 80 was rolled out in the Dev channel and it added support for sideloading Android apps without Developer Mode. Now, Google is rolling out more new features in Chrome OS 80 as it hits the beta channel.

As reported by Android Police, Chrome OS 80 includes two more features ported over from Android — gesture navigation and multiple quick settings pages. In case you’re on the Chome OS beta channel, you can use the new gestures by enabling the modular shelf flag for Chrome. For those of you who already had this enabled in Chrome OS 79, the feature will disable itself following the update and you’ll have to turn it on again.

As seen in the video above, the gestures work quite a bit like the ones Google released with Android 10 and allow you to swipe up to go back to home, swipe from the sides to go back, and swipe up and hold to open the overview screen. However, the back gesture on Chrome OS only works on the left edge of the display. There’s an additional gesture that can be used to show the app dock and it requires users to swipe up a short distance quickly from the bottom of the screen. As of now, the old pull down from the top to go back to home gesture still works but we can’t be sure if it will be available when the update lands on the stable channel.

Along with the new navigation gestures, the Chrome OS 80 beta release also adds multiple quick settings pages to the platform. Unlike Android, however, you can’t change the order of the tiles or add custom tiles in quick settings. It’s worth noting that both these new features are currently a work in progress and Google might make some further changes before the build hits the stable channel.


Via: Android Police

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Google App update brings a new Labs section to beta test new features

Back in March last year, an APK teardown of the Google App revealed that the company was working on a new Labs feature that will let you try new features before their public release. At the time, the app included two new features for testing, one that helped you discover content related to your collections and the other that let you pinch to zoom in on search result pages. Almost a year down the line, the company is finally rolling out the Labs section in the latest update of the Google app with another upcoming feature.

Google app Google app

As per a recent report from Android Police, the feature is slowly showing up for people worldwide. To access the Labs section, users will need to navigate to the More tab in the Google app and then tap on the Labs option. The following window has a list of features currently being tested by Google, along with a brief description of what they’re intended to do. To try out a feature, you just need to tap on the toggle next to it and you’re good to go. As of now, the Labs section has two features, including the aforementioned pinch to zoom feature and a screenshot editing/sharing feature.

Additionally, tapping on the Learn More button for each feature brings up clear instructions on how to use the experimental feature, along with extra steps you might need to take in order to enable the feature. The Labs section also has a feedback button to help you directly submit feedback based on your experiences with the new feature. The Labs feature is being rolled out via a server-side update and it wasn’t available on any of my devices at the time of writing. As of now, Google hasn’t revealed any specific timeline for its rollout, but expect the feature to reach more users in the coming week.


Via: Android Police

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Huawei Quick Apps is Huawei’s alternative to Google Instant Apps

Android without Google and Google Mobile Services (GMS) is an alien concept to the average consumer, one that fundamentally alters the experience they have come to expect out of their Android smartphone. And because of certain political decisions, Huawei faces the unenviable task of convincing the world outside of China that it can provide a software experience on Android that can compete against the experience they have come to expect out of Google’s Android. The Chinese company did have some foresight, as it had begun work on several avenues much before the political decisions, and these avenues then had to step up and fill in as replacements to crucial Google services and frameworks. In this article, we take a look at Quick Apps from Huawei, one such avenue that serves as an alternative to Instant Apps from Google.

Google Instant Apps

Google introduced Instant Apps back at Google I/O 2016, imagining it as the next evolutionary step in the way Android apps are experienced. Traditionally, a user would need to download and install an entire app, even if their intention was to merely check out the app or achieve a very specific one-time task; and then also remember to uninstall the app if they wanted to keep their phone clean. With Instant Apps, users could “stream” apps to try out certain limited functionality without involving any of the friction associated with installation. This approach promised to increase the reach for app developers, as they could essentially project a native Android app experience to the user through a URL instead of merely presenting a website. Over the years, Instant Apps saw several key improvements — the Google Play Store gained support for Instant Apps, with a prominent “Try Now” button appearing next to “Install” on several popular apps, developers were allowed to publish Instant Apps without a website, and even games joined in the Instant Apps party with playable demos, something that definitely helps in engagement if the game is paid or available to pre-register only.

While Instant Apps haven’t yet completely eliminated our need for traditional apps — and by design, they cannot do so, as they are a precursor to the full experience of a traditional app or game, and not a full replacement — they do serve important functions for both users and developers. But for users and developers who are looking at Huawei for its hardware, the lack of Instant Apps will add to the overall pinch in the Google-less software experience. If an app relies on GMS for its core functionality, this functionality will also be undeliverable through Instant Apps. The absence of the Play Store also reduces the channels available for users to land on and try out Instant Apps, as the Play Store was one of the popular mediums to promote Instant Apps.

Huawei Quick Apps

Huawei Quick Apps

In an ideal world, the political situation that forces Huawei to discontinue the use of Google services would not exist. But we do not live in an ideal world, so the next best solution for Huawei is to ensure that its stakeholders are impacted in minimal ways. For the same, the Huawei AppGallery was presented as the homegrown alternative to the Google Play Store for app distribution. HMS Core attempted to fill in the space left behind in GMS’s absence; while Huawei Ability Gallery presented itself as the comprehensive service distribution platform. Huawei Quick Apps aims to fill in the gap from Google’s Instant Apps framework, providing users with an installation-free app experience on Huawei’s smartphones.

Much like Instant Apps, Quick Apps aims to reduce the friction that users feel when they have to install an app, relying on the reluctance faced by an average user for installing a large app when they have just some limited use to look forward to. Since users are hesitant in installing new apps, developers have to explore alternate mechanisms to get their app’s experience to the user as promoting a new app becomes a difficult job under these circumstances.

Advantages

Some of these alternate mechanisms include HTML5 and Progressive Web Application (PWA), WeChat Mini Programs, Facebook Instant Game, and of course, Google Play Instant App; but there are drawbacks associated with each of these. PWAs are good for bringing about a universal experience through a browser, but they can tend to have a slower interaction experience compared to a proper application. Similarly, WeChat Mini Programs are HTML 5 and JavaScript-based programs, suffering from slower interaction experience and limited reach outside of China. Facebook Instant Game utilizes HTML 5 and WebGL, but suffers from the lack of native graphics acceleration. Google’s Instant Apps was thus a good solution against these options, but this too suffers from the limited usability as the whole intention of Instant Apps is to provide limited functions and convince the user on whether they need to install the full app.

Huawei Quick App makes use of HTML 5, JavaScript and CSS to provide a native GUI for the app, while trimming down code volume to just 20% of a traditional Android app. Quick Apps are not just limited to Huawei devices, as Huawei claims that they are compatible with a “new set of standards” supported by more than 12 major Chinese handset manufacturers, representing more than 35% of the global market and 85% of the Chinese market; and being supported on over 1 billion smartphones. The sheer scale of support makes them lucrative for developers looking to reach new users. Quick Apps also supports all “H5” apps, which are essentially mobile web pages that are frequently shared over WeChat in China. Quick Apps can also be added to the home screen on a device, and can also access device functions.

While Google’s Instant Apps could be accessed through a deeplink URL and through the Google Play Store, Huawei Quick Apps can be accessed through the Huawei AppGallery, through Search, Instant Access, Smart Care (Huawei Assistant on the homescreen), through the Huawei Quick App Center app, and through deeplink URLs. The Quick App Center app can run and manage quick apps, ensuring that you run on the latest version of the app available. It also allows users to delete data, withdraw authorizations, and disable notifications for a quick app.

As far as their basic premise goes, Quick Apps can open instantly, and be used without needing to be installed. Huawei also claims that they can update automatically, and take up limited storage space. Once closed, they can also be rediscovered easily through their home screen icon, or be found through Recently Used apps, or through Push notifications.

Huawei also claims that Quick Apps perform as well as traditional Android apps. In its tests, a Quick App performed very similarly to an equivalent Android app, while requiring only a very small fraction of storage space. This low storage requirement will come in very handy on budget smartphones, as users can confidently get lower storage devices, store their media, and still retain the ability to access native Android experiences for a lot of apps.

Huawei also claims that Quick Apps adoption is on a meteoric rise. So far, Quick Apps are supported on over 250 million Huawei phones, with an MAU of more than 30 million. Quick Apps access has also increased by 100% each quarter, and the average time per user exceeds 14 minutes per day.

In a second example, Huawei claims that Quick Apps provide better returns in promotional activities. When both Quick Apps and the traditional Android app are promoted through different means, the Android app only saw 10% of the users reached installing the app, while the Quick App saw 72% of users reached experiencing the Quick App, indicating a very substantial effect. User retention remained the same though, which still attests to the benefits of the Quick App approach. Since more users experienced the Quick App, the promotion cost per user retained came down drastically, making it a much more efficient method for promoting and advertising the app experience.

The performance-related benefits of Quick Apps extend to Quick Games too, which are essentially games in the Quick Apps format. Huawei claims that Quick Apps can be either through H5 or can be “native runtime games” as well. Native runtime games through Quick Apps promise device-level graphics acceleration, ensuring that the game runs smoothly and at high quality. The games also retain the ability to access device capabilities, including location, sensors, Bluetooth, and others.

Benefits from Quick Apps also extend to the time actually involved in building a Quick App or Quick Game. If you already have an existing H5 app or game, you can have a Quick App or Game up and running within an hour. The timeframe expands by two more days if you wish to incorporate Huawei’s account or payment services. Huawei claims that new Quick Apps can be developed and released in as early as under a week.

Disadvantages

Quick Apps have a lot of benefits, but there are some limitations to them that you as a developer should keep in mind.

If your app/game is very large in size, there is a loss in performance that becomes apparent because of the larger reduction in the volume of the package. Further, Quick Apps does not support the entire gamut of Android APIs; so if your app relies on some rarely used APIs, you will be unable to migrate completely in a clean fashion. Similarly, Huawei mentions that apps that require special permissions, such as theme APKs for example, are not supported through the Quick App format.

Quick Apps also need to run on the “Quick Application Center” platform, which will be preloaded on devices through their Android 10 updates. Devices not on Android 9 need to download and install the platform once to be able to run Quick Apps.

Phone Support

Quick Apps are useful, but their usefulness is only as wide as their availability to end users on their devices. All Huawei smartphone launched after the Huawei Mate 30 directly support Quick Apps, while other selected Huawei and Honor devices will support it when they receive their Android 10 update. Huawei has shared a list of devices that support Quick Apps after their Android 10 update:

Further, more Huawei phones can support Quick Apps once their AppGallery is updated to v10.1 or later.

Project Structure

At several of its Developer Day conferences, Huawei has shared information on the project structure of a Quick App.

Huawei Quick Apps - Project Structure

A Quick App takes the .rpk extension. The project structure consists of three parts. The Manifest file contains the meta information of the Quick App, with details like the package name, app name, version number, home screen icon, page path, and other relevant configurations. The app.ux holds all the common capabilities of the project. The third element is page, and each page corresponds to a subdirectory that contains the app’s layout file, CSS file, and JavaScript running file. Each Quick App RPK is signed with a unique signature, in the same manner as Android apps are signed, so keep in mind to preserve the signature key privately and securely.

Huawei provides an IDE (for Windows and MacOS) for developing Quick Apps and Games, along with documentation on learning more about developing Quick Apps. There are demo apps included too within the IDE, so you can take a look for yourself. Once you have developed your Quick App and are ready for release, you need to sign into the Huawei Developer website and submit your Quick App, after configuring the countries and regions you want your Quick App to reach. Huawei will review the submission and then release the Quick App in the target countries and regions. If you plan to make use of Huawei’s ID, payment or push services, you would need to apply for these services before you can complete app development, debugging, submission, and review.

To know more, visit Huawei’s Quick App resources.

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