September 2016 Summaries

In September 2016, Google introduced Firebase Analytics as part of a new suite of tools to assist developers in building mobile apps, capturing data on user interactions within iOS and Android applications. This data, accessible via the Firebase console, can be exported to Google BigQuery for detailed analysis, enabling developers to aggregate data from both platforms and analyze custom parameters. The export process involves linking a Firebase project to BigQuery, resulting in separate datasets for each app version, with tables populated daily. These datasets contain user activity, demographic data, and any custom app events. Developers can utilize SQL queries in BigQuery to extract insights, such as user demographics, language preferences, and event frequencies. The integration with Google Data Studio allows for the visualization of these insights through various chart types, facilitating the comparison of user interactions across different platforms and device types. This setup provides a robust framework for developers to better understand their app's performance and user engagement by leveraging the combined capabilities of Firebase Analytics and BigQuery.

The Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) Project aims to enhance the mobile web experience by improving both content and advertising, focusing on speed, aesthetics, security, and industry collaboration. The AMP team has developed an advertising solution adhering to these principles, utilizing the amp-ad component to deliver ads that match the fast pace of AMP documents. This component allows for varied configurations such as size, layout, and ad loading strategy, with options differing across ad networks. AMP supports multiple ad platforms, with flexible attributes for customization, demonstrated by examples using DoubleClick and Rubicon. Additionally, initiatives like AMP for Ads and AMP Ad Landing Pages are being developed to ensure that ads and their landing pages provide a seamless and consistent user experience, furthering the goal of a faster, more user-friendly mobile web.

Google's VR team, led by Product Manager Nathan Martz, is focused on making virtual reality widely accessible through initiatives like Google Cardboard and Daydream, which utilize smartphones for VR experiences. To further promote VR development, Google has released the Google VR SDK with native support for Unity and UE4, simplifying the process for developers. In collaboration with Udacity, Google has launched the VR Developer Nanodegree, designed to teach students how to create immersive and comfortable VR environments. This program emphasizes hands-on learning, allowing students to build a portfolio of VR experiences, even as VR technology remains in its early stages with over 50 million Google Cardboard app installs on Google Play.

WayfairView, an augmented reality app developed in collaboration with Tango, revolutionizes the online furniture shopping experience by allowing customers to visualize and arrange virtual furniture in their real home environments. Leveraging Tango's advanced tracking capabilities, the app provides accurate 3D renderings of furniture, helping customers overcome the challenges of assessing fit and style from flat images. Developed using Unity in C# with a native Android interface, WayfairView integrates seamlessly with the existing Wayfair app, offering performance improvements and ease of updates. The app's future enhancements aim to include space-based product searching and the ability to stack virtual items, further enhancing user engagement and boosting confidence in online purchases. Tango's markerless AR technology offers a user-friendly, immersive experience that could accelerate the shift from traditional retail to online shopping, potentially becoming as ubiquitous as smartphone cameras and GPS.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) offers a suite of analytics tools to help website owners understand their audience while ensuring fast page loading times. The amp-pixel solution provides a customizable tracking pixel, while the more robust amp-analytics component supports multiple analytics providers and event triggers to collect specific metrics. To implement amp-analytics, users must add the component library to their document's head and configure the component using a flexible JSON format that avoids JavaScript errors. This setup allows for tracking various events, such as page views and clicks. For those interested in user experience experiments like A/B testing, the amp-experiment element can be integrated and analyzed through amp-analytics and amp-pixel. The AMP Project continues to evolve, with ongoing developments and community input welcomed via GitHub to enhance analytics capabilities.

Google has announced that the Google VR SDK 1.0, now supporting Daydream, is out of beta and available on the Daydream developer site. This updated SDK is designed to simplify virtual reality development tasks, allowing developers to focus on creating immersive VR applications for Daydream-ready devices, with features like asynchronous reprojection, spatialized audio, and Daydream controller interactions. The release includes native integration with Unity and Unreal Engine 4 (UE4), enhancing VR rendering, head tracking, and other functionalities, with the Unity integration debuting native Daydream support. Developers are encouraged to start building Daydream apps using the SDK and the DIY developer kit, and applications for the Daydream Access Program (DAP) are now open, allowing developers to propose app ideas to work closely with Google. The announcement highlights the ongoing development of Daydream-ready phones and headsets, promising more immersive VR experiences in the near future.

The Launchpad Build Event Series in Sub-Saharan Africa, announced by Google's Developer Ecosystem Community Manager Mercy Orangi, aims to enhance developers' understanding of Firebase's features, which were expanded at Google I/O. The event series, taking place in Lagos, Nairobi, and Cape Town in late September 2016, targets intermediate and expert developers with existing Web or Android applications. It offers technical sessions, including talks and hands-on codelabs, focusing on various Firebase tools such as Firebase Analytics, Cloud Messaging, Crash Reporting, Test Lab, and more, alongside other technologies like TensorFlow. The event is facilitated by Googlers and Google Developer Experts to equip developers with the skills and resources needed to integrate Firebase into their applications.

Google announced a policy change effective October 5, 2016, aimed at enhancing security for enterprise Gmail users by automatically revoking OAuth 2.0 tokens when users change their passwords. This change affects applications using Gmail-based authorization scopes by rendering their access tokens invalid upon a password change, requiring users to re-authorize access. Developers are advised to adjust their applications to handle HTTP 400 or 401 errors caused by revoked tokens and streamline the re-authorization process for users. The policy specifically targets mail scopes and excludes Apps Script tokens, while also aligning third-party mobile mail apps' behavior with that of native Gmail apps in requiring re-authorization post-password reset. This modification is part of Google's broader effort to ensure robust security measures while minimizing disruption to end-users and administrators.

In an announcement by Scott Huffman, VP of Engineering, it was revealed that Google has acquired API.AI, a company renowned for its expertise in developing conversational user interface platforms that facilitate the creation and enhancement of natural language interfaces. This strategic acquisition is part of Google's ongoing investment in machine learning technologies aimed at making conversational interfaces more accessible to developers. API.AI's platform is utilized by over 60,000 developers for building conversational experiences on platforms like Slack, Facebook Messenger, and Kik. The integration of API.AI into Google's ecosystem is expected to further empower developers to create advanced natural language interfaces, with more details on these integrations anticipated in the future. Existing users of API.AI are encouraged to continue their work, while new users are invited to explore the potential of building conversational interfaces.

Google Developers is inviting applications for the third class of the Launchpad Accelerator, targeting late-stage app startups from Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Mexico, with a deadline of October 24, 2016. The program, which is equity-free, will commence on January 30, 2017, in San Francisco, offering two weeks of comprehensive training and six months of access to Google’s resources and expertise. Startups are selected holistically, with a focus on technological advancement, local market targeting, and proven product-market fit, while also considering the value created for users, the real challenges being addressed, and the leadership potential of the management team. The initiative aims to nurture startups that can significantly impact their local regions and contribute insights from Silicon Valley to their ecosystems.

The annual DevFest season, initiated by Google Developer Group (GDG) chapters worldwide, commences with #DevFest16, a series of developer community-run events spread over three months, aimed at fostering knowledge exchange and technological passion among developers. These events, occurring in over 70 countries, from Canada to Australia, and spanning continents including South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, are designed to provide technical content focused on Google developer technologies like Firebase, Google Cloud Platform, and machine learning with TensorFlow, as well as web development. The initiative is driven by the belief that collaborative idea exchange among developers leads to remarkable outcomes, with an expected participation of 50,000 developers globally. DevFests are uniquely tailored to local communities by sharing speakers and resources, ensuring quality events that enrich the developer experience.