As part of the Google I/O 2016, the company announced many new features that would be introduced into the Android ecosystem. One of them is called Android Instant Apps. This gimmick as claimed would revolutionize the way developers and users interact with Android apps. What is Android Instant Apps? How does it work?
According to Android Developers Blog:
…it evolves Android apps to be able to run instantly, without requiring installation. With Instant Apps, a tap on a URL can open right in an Android app, even if the user doesn’t have that app installed. As a developer, you won’t need to build a new, separate app. It’s the same Android APIs, the same project, the same source code. You’ll simply update your existing Android app to take advantage of Instant Apps functionality.
Hopefully, you are getting the picture now. For this pseudo app function to really work, developers will have to rework their apps to support it. The amount of effort towards this effect will be greatly dependent on how complex an app is structured. I personally wonder how feasible this would be on huge apps that can be as large as 2.4 GB in size.
The feature will be supported on all Android devices from Jelly Bean upwards. Google on their part is working with partners and developers to help refine the experience. Owners of BuzzFeed, B&H Photo, Medium, Hotel Tonight, Zumper, and Disney are all on board. Google promises to bring this to everyone before the year runs out.