The next step for Skit
Hey, today I am proud to announce, that Skit 3.0 is finally out and everyone can try it now. Update should be already available for users in Google Play and AppGallery, or you can just download it using links below. So, let’s have a small deep dive into what is new for such a big version number :)
Material You
Skit was created, when the Material 2.0 paradigm was in use, where own design system mixed with Material components would give a good design system. Now, with Material You design system is generated by the Android using a feature called “Dynamic Colors” to create colorful themes based on your wallpapers. Now, with the 3.0 update Skit adopts this philosophy and has a new, overhauled UI.
Mostly all screens design was updated with new Material You components and icons.
There is also work done to better support “edge-to-edge” navigation in the “Apps”, “Analytics”, “Tools” and “Settings. That means, that content will properly draw below status bars now.
Better for tablets
Interface optimization for tablets and Chrome OS devices was big priority for this release. Content on many screens are now more dynamic, which means the app will adapt UI and move cards to be more accessible and easier to use on bigger screens.
Bigger screens required a better layout of the apps displaying, so Skit can draw the app’s list in the grid format now on both tablets (enabled by default) and phones. However, no one will prevent you from changing it in the “Settings.
New features
Let’s speak about the most awaited features by most users! First of all, in the 3.0 update, many improvements in the extraction process were made, but the most valuable are: the ability to force Skit to extract APK files (instead of APKS) and one-time folder selection. Let’s start from the last one — you can just select the folder for extracted files once in the settings and Skit won’t ask you about it anymore, all files will be automatically extracted there for both: manual and batch extraction.
Users of Skit don’t really like APKS files, since they are harder to use and install, but that is our new reality with the spreading of App Bundles, a new format for installation files — Split APK was created. “App Bundles” consists of many different APK files, containing different logic for different devices’ configuration and APKS (Split APK) files has a special meta-file, describing how all of them should be installed. However, now you can select “extraction mode” in the settings and tell Skit how it should work. “Prefer APKS” mode is the same way it was working previously, but there is a new mode “Force APK”, which will extract only the main APK file from App Bundle and basic apps. However, these files may miss some important parts and may fail to install. But, I have good news for everyone who has to deal with Split APKs — the new tool “Split APK installer” was added.
“Split APK installer” is a simple tool, which will handle installing the “Split APK” files without any hustle for you, just feed it with the file and it will do the rest of the work for you :)
Another improved area is the permissions screen. Skit will now split all permissions into its “security” categories — “Normal”, “Dangerous”, “Special” and “Undefined”, which will help you to understand which ones are really dangerous for you and should be controlled. Also, the “granted/denied” status is back for all permissions.
Smaller improvements
Speaking about Skit’s settings, there is also something new there:
- Option to change icon’s quality to improve performance on lower-end devices;
- Ability to select list or grid view type for the apps list;
- Options to reset all settings to the default state.
App’s details also have some changes:
- You can now create separate shortcuts to start the app’s activities from the home screen;
- The new category “Usage” shows how to separate apps were used for a long time;
- Long-pressing on any data in the “Details” screen will not copy it into the clipboard;
- “Activities”, “Providers”, “Services” and “Broadcasts” are now merged into one screen with better navigation between them;
- The “Resources” page was removed since it wasn’t used by users and didn’t provide any interesting data;
- There is a new field to display app type — “Basic APK” or “Split APK”;
If you have found any bug, or have some ideas for improvements, please let me know via any of the channels: Twitter, Telegram group or write me email at pavel.rekun.development@gmail.com.
There are many other changes, that were not covered here, but you can take a look at them in the detailed changelog. That is it for now guys, but I still have some plans for further improvements to the app, so stay tuned!