Google IO Extended 2018 @ UrbanClap
Keeping up with our vision to be the focal point for Tech knowledge sharing in NCR, we at Urbanclap played host to GDG & Women TechMakers New Delhi.
GDGs are local groups of developers specifically interested in Google products and APIs. They spread awareness about Google products through code jams, seminars etc.
The theme of the Google IO Extended this time was focused around the services and products launched in IO 2018.
This year IO Extended for Delhi GDG chapter was held concurrently at 3 different locations with UrbanClap being one of the venue partners. Around 80 enthusiastic people arrived at UrbanClap hoping to learn and interact with experts in different fields. At the end of the session, everyone left enlightened and made a few friends along the way.
This article will detail the proceedings of the meetup, and also include links to the content of all the talks for folks who could not attend in person.
Kickoff and Surya Namaskar
The event kicked off with an Google I/O 2018 introductory video. The major theme this time around has been around AI.
Talks at the event :
1. Introduction to the world of instant apps
Did you always want to check out that new Android game, but couldn’t because of big download sizes? Or ever felt unhappy with website experience of your favourite product? Not anymore! Google has come up with the answer, i.e. Instant Apps.
Instant apps are native Android apps which don't require any installation. You can now try your games instantly without downloading those big binaries. It can also be embedded into the Google search to open a small part of native app after you search for the product instead of a mobile website.
If you don't believe me, search for "Buzzfeed" on Google Play Store and click on "Try It Now" button in the app description.
2. App Bundles
Google launched App bundles in Google I/O 2018. App Bundle is a new form of executable that developers can upload on PlayStore and enjoy smaller apks, with features like Dynamic Delivery where developers can now ship feature modules at run time, e.g. Premium features for a fitness app.
3. Android Jetpack
Google has finally come up with a set of libraries, tools and architectural guidance to help us make it quick and easy to build our Android apps. Its called Android Jetpack.
They have divided the app development ecosystem into 4 parts: Foundation, Architecture, Behaviour and UI. They have further segregated existing apis, and some new ones i.e WorkManager, Navigation etc into these 4 buckets, which makes an app JETPACK enabling us to ship robust, testable app with ease.
Ice Breaker
A fun quiz was organised by gdg, people were required to login to Kahoot! an awesome online quiz platform, and answer questions about Google products and services.
People throughly enjoyed the quiz with live ranking and scoring making people laugh at insane choices.
Irony was an alias named Sundar Pichai won the quiz.
4. Why flutter is the framework developers deserve, but also the one they need right now
I hope the title sounds familiar (hint: Dark Knight). But jokes apart, Flutter is the new cross platform app development framework released by Google. Everything is a widget in the flutter world and its performance compared to previous cross platform tools is way better.
5. Web optimization for marketing and user experience
A lot of e-commerce companies rely on Google’s Search Engine Marketing for acquiring their users. The final talk emphasized on how to optimize these pages for performance, user experience and experimentation.
The END:
The event offered a great opportunity for the android community in NCR to network and discuss about all the major announcements from Google I/O. If you have any questions about any of these new features, feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers !!
