We're back with yet another edition of our Android 4.2 teardown! We previously showed you the new Gmail, the Quick Settings prototype, and all sorts of security features. Today we're looking at some seriously fun stuff, including a sneak peak at the new Gallery design.
Pending some kind of breakthrough, we'll probably end this series at an even trilogy. There isn't much more to cover after this. And remember, this is a Teardown, not a list of confirmed 4.2 features. None of this is guaranteed to ship in 4.2 and I'm certainly not claiming it will.
For starters, some apps have new permissions for dealing with different users. Here are the descriptions of every new permission in the framework-res string file:
In
this dump, Phone, Settings, and SystemUI all have some multi-user
permissions. Settings obviously needs it to manage users, SystemUI would
need it to allow you to switch users, and Phone, well, I guess the
phone will still ring when someone else is logged in.
The other really interesting addition is a full set of user account options in the settings APK.
The
section will simply be called "Users" and have all the expected stuff.
You'll be able to add and delete users, and everyone will have a user
name and a Photo ID. The only thing I haven't found yet is a way to switch users. There needs to be some kind of lock screen interface for that.
The
Play Store will also keep track of installed apps for each user, so
Billy doesn't have to see his little sister's "Barbie Horse Adventure"
game in his apps list.
Yep,
this is one of the cool bonuses of multiple user accounts; you can have
accounts with reduced privileges. For starters, you'll be able to lock
down Play Store purchasing with a PIN number on a per-account basis, and
limit account downloads by content rating. You've been able to do this
across the device for a while now, but it'll be much handier to have on a
per-account basis.
Pending some kind of breakthrough, we'll probably end this series at an even trilogy. There isn't much more to cover after this. And remember, this is a Teardown, not a list of confirmed 4.2 features. None of this is guaranteed to ship in 4.2 and I'm certainly not claiming it will.
The New Gallery
Update: HOLD
EVERYTHING. It turns out Google didn't make these new icons - these are
placeholders too. The Camera icon is from a set called Aelous HD and the Gallery picture was found here. I guess this means they'll replace them with something they've made later? Thanks to Amon Ra for spotting this!
One thing I have actually gotten to work
is the GalleryCamera APK. It has new icons! The left is 4.1; the right
is the new set. I always thought the old Camera and Gallery icons were
weird. The old camera icon was the 8th-shortest in my UX complaint post,
so it's good to see it die. The new Camera icon is much closer in
vertical size to everything else. The old Gallery icon never made any
sense, so I'm glad it's gone, too.
Combine these with the new calendar icon and the removal of the Latitude shortcut and it sounds like someone over at Android HQ is on icon cleanup duty.
The
Gallery is getting a reskin! It's still a rough work in progress, but
we can at least see what direction they're going in. Albums have a
polaroid-style bottom white label (which matches the new icon!) and the
background is a light-gray color. Everything else about the Gallery is
exactly the same. And when I say exactly the same I mean exactly the same. You
can't delete Picasa/G+ photos, there are no new editing options, you
still can't rotate with a gesture, and Instant Upload Albums are still
capped at 500. In its defense, it isn't anywhere near finished - in
fact, they haven't even incremented the version number. 1.1.40000 is the
same as the Jelly Bean version. It's promising that they're looking at
it.
Information density has taken a huge
nose dive on the album screens, in ICS and JB it would display about 9
albums per screen, now it displays 2 full thumbnails and 2 cut off
thumbnails. I'm not sure I like it. If you have a lot of albums, this
will suck.
The header looks pretty ugly, and that's
because it's the same semi-transparent background as the current
Gallery. I think this it's pretty clear what direction they're going in.
When this is done, I bet it will look just like the Google+ photo
design. Check this out:
The
left picture is the Jelly Bean Gallery, the middle is the
work-in-progress 4.2 Gallery, and the right is the Google+ Gallery. That
must be what they're aiming for.
This gets major
points for consistency. The two main photo apps will look the same, and
this design matches core apps, like Gmail and Calendar, very well. There
is so much overlap with the Gallery and Google+ I'm starting to wonder
why they bother to have separate apps.
The Camera app, by the way, is completely unchanged.
Multiple User Accounts
Multiple user accounts have been a well-covered subject here at AP and, given all the stuff I'm finding, it wouldn't surprise me to see them land in Android 4.2. If it's not in Android 4.2, it's certainly very close. There are just so many new things that have to do with access across user accounts.For starters, some apps have new permissions for dealing with different users. Here are the descriptions of every new permission in the framework-res string file:
<string name="permlab_interactAcrossUsers">interact across users</string>
<string name="permdesc_interactAcrossUsers">Allows the app to perform actions across different users on the device. Malicious apps may use this to violate the protection between users.</string>
<string name="permlab_interactAcrossUsersFull">full license to interact across users</string>
<string name="permdesc_interactAcrossUsersFull">Allows all possible interactions across users.</string>
<string name="permlab_manageUsers">manage users</string>
<string name="permdesc_manageUsers">Allows apps to manage users on the device, including query, creation and deletion.</string>
The other really interesting addition is a full set of user account options in the settings APK.
<string name="user_settings_title">Users</string>
<string name="user_list_title">Users</string>
<string name="user_add_user_menu">Add user</string>
<string name="user_details_title">Edit details</string>
<string name="user_information_heading">User information</string>
<string name="user_name_title">Name</string>
<string name="user_discard_user_menu">Discard</string>
<string name="user_remove_user_menu">Remove user</string>
<string name="user_new_user_name">Pesky kid</string>
<string name="user_confirm_remove_title">Remove user?</string>
<string name="user_confirm_remove_message">Are you sure you want to remove the user and all associated data from the device?</string>
<string name="user_picture_title">Photo ID</string>
<string name="user_system_apps_heading">System apps</string>
<string name="user_market_apps_heading">Installed apps</string>
Per-Account Parental Controls
It looks like the multi user feature will also include parental controls!<string name="user_restrictions_heading">Content restrictions</string>
<string name="user_market_requires_pin">Require PIN</string>
<string name="user_max_content_rating">Content rating</string>
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