Google Seeds Multi-Device Android App For Devs Ahead Of I/O

Write once, deploy everywhere. It's the dream for Developers — well, everywhere — but isn't always as simple as it sounds. With so many screens and so many platforms, there typically has to be a lot of manipulation of an app to work in multiple places. Ahead of I/O, Google is laying out reason that might not always be the case, with a reference app that is usable on a smartphone, tablet, Android Auto, Android Wear, and usable with Google Cast — with a single codebase.

The app is an audio/media app, and admittedly sparse. The point here was not to release some sort of killer app or feature, it's to show how a single app's codebase can be deployed across screens.

While simple, the media app is also modern. The app takes advantages of Android 5.0 Lollipop features for notifications and media browsing, as well as playback toggles.

A simple code is likely the groundwork for a much larger narrative for Google I/O. Though we've not yet been informed of the full session schedule, we are going to guess Google's expanding screen empire needs some rein pulling from the mothership. In releasing this app now rather than at I/O, we can assume this type of discussion — the distribution of apps across the Android ecosystem — will get a lot of attention, likely on-stage and in breakout sessions.

For now, the app is a good reference point for interested Developers. It will be interesting to see what is done with it over time.

Source: Android Developers, GitHub