J
Jack Holt
Guest
From time to time, Google will change the course of Android that both adds functionality and changes the way we use our most favorite mobile OS. Honeycomb brought us Android on the tablet. Ice Cream Sandwich changed up the UI and brought us guidelines that made Android a more unified experience, Jelly Bean brought us Project Butter with it’s buttery smoothness, and KitKat added Svelte, the ability for Android to run on a wide variety of devices, to the mix.According to a rumor that Android Police discovered, the next iteration of Android, whether it’s 4.5 or 5.0, will be bringing the experience of Android, Chrome, and Search together on a more unified front for the first time.
Hera, as it’s known internally, is Google’s push to unify the experiences had in Android, Chrome and Search — all from your Android device. This is essentially done through a special Chromium build that runs on Android and then executes tasks via the web for Google and third-party applications.
The multi-tasking view we use currently gives us a snapshot of the apps we have open. With Hera, that view shows snapshots of actions being taken in Chromium instances. This allows users to execute quick actions online without opening the full app.
The interface looks similar to changes that we may see in Gmail sometime soon. What this could potentially mean is that Google is looking to take Android’s interface design in another direction. Chromium instances that underpin Hera will emulate this new direction.
Hera looks to replace the current multitasking view as well by combining entries from all types of tasks. Potentially, the new view will include app instances, Hera instances, and Search queries as well.
Hera could potentially execute tasks that normally belongs to an app without the need for opening that app. This means that apps with functionality that’s carried out over the web could plug into Hera for a better experience on Android.
An example would be Gmail on the web. If you were to sign up for a new web site and received a confirmation request, Gmail could understand that request, and a button might show up next to the message allowing you to confirm that request without the need to open the actual email.
These instances appear to generate themselves. Another potential benefit being that, something that was searched for on Google, be it mobile on on your computer, would generate a card that would look like one of the cards seen in new multitask view.
Hera looks to bring Android and HTML5 closer together. This has the potential of changing the way we use and experience apps on our devices. It looks to be the first step in unifying the experiences seen on various screens while simplifying the process at the same time. The advantage here is a smoother and more unified experience with web apps that function much like native Android apps. From what can be seen, Google is trying to simplify the mobile experience for users.
source: Android Police
Come comment on this article: [Rumor] – Google’s Hera could unite Android, Chrome and Search
Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!
News via TalkAndroid