Google starts first round of installation-free Android Instant Apps

By admin On Jan 23, 2017

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Google starts on Monday with the first round of tests of its Android Instant Apps. These are applications that are streamed during use instead of pre-downloaded. The Instant Apps SDk will be released in the coming months.

Google reports that a small amount of Instant Apps are currently being tested. These include apps from BuzzFeed, Wish, Periscope and Viki. The Instant Apps are now available to users for the first time, but judging by the wording of the announcement, it is still a closed test. After collecting feedback, the tests will be extended to more apps and users.

Developers can already take steps to ensure that their apps can work with it immediately when the feature is available. This involves dividing an application into different modules, so that only the relevant module needs to be downloaded and streaming remains feasible. According to Google, it takes a developer about a day or two to break that down. Already thousands of developers would be interested in Instant Apps.

Support for Android Instant apps is already built into many Android phones because it is not via the OS, but via Google Play Services. That module can receive updates separately from the operating system and the compatibility with Instant Apps is therefore in phones with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and newer.

According to the technology giant, the function is useful for, for example, apps from museums and for applications that allow you to pay for a parking space. Such apps are only useful in a specific location and will almost never be used. With Instant Apps, installing such apps is no longer necessary. They are downloaded from the Play Store in the background and exist only temporarily in the phone’s cache, with the option to install the full app.

Android Instant Apps were unveiled at Google I/O in 2016. It was said that the feature should be available by the end of 2016. However, Google missed that goal.

Video preview of Android Instant Apps, taken in May of 2016 and part of a written preview