The next Big Thing is quietly being assembled by Google...

[loop101]

IMHO:

In 2-3 years, Google will release a new OS that will unify the Chrome OS and Android systems, remove Linux as a dependency, remove Java as a dependency, be free and open-source, and be unencumbered by patents. The OS is called Fuschia, and all Fuschia apps will be written in Dart using the Flutter framework. Google will essentially control the OS, framework, and language.

Removing Java is a big deal, like iOS disallowing Flash. Google will finally be able to tell Oracle to go F themselves.

The opportunity should be like when the iPhone was first released, because all the apps are going to have to be written from scratch in Dart/Flutter.

Dart/Flutter can now make native iOS and Android apps. These apps are also going to run on Fuschia. Google is going to quietly assemble a mass of apps written in Flutter. They cannot release Fuschia until they have enough apps written in Flutter. Expect Google to start pushing this hard.

Freelancers are already getting excited by Flutter because they can target both iOS and Android environments with native apps.

Google Fuchsia - Wikipedia

While no official announcement was made, inspection of the code suggested its capability to run on universal devices, including "dash infotainment systems for cars, to embedded devices like traffic lights and digital watches, all the way up to smartphones, tablets and PCs"

Fuchsia's user interface and apps are written with "Flutter", a software development kit allowing cross-platform development abilities for Fuchsia, Android and iOS. Flutter produces apps based on Dart, offering apps with high performance that run at 120 frames per second.

Fuchsia Friday: How Flutter is paving the way for Fuchsia (and our first Fuchsia app!)

Get developers comfortable with Flutter years before forcing everyone to switch.

There’s another level to this plan, though. As some have noted, one of the hardest things about creating a new operating system is the potential lack of third-party apps. Most people won’t buy a device that doesn’t have good apps, and developers won’t make apps for a device that isn’t selling. What they might not realize, however, is that by making Android & iOS apps with Flutter, they are making ready-to-go Fuchsia apps!

 

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[loop101]

so how can we get started?

Right at this moment, I would watch some of the Dart/Flutter videos that have been released in the last month. Recently Dart2 was released, and Flutter went from Alpha to Beta. Dart was considered a dead language a just few months ago.

Since Flutter just went in to Beta, it is not a good idea to start using it for production quality apps, but you can certainly start playing around with it. Having said that, the "Hamilton" app was written in Flutter.

Two recent videos:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq4N0hgOWzU

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7TXamVRSbY


Hamilton App:
Google Developers Blog: Hamilton App Takes the Stage


An example of people thinking Dart was dead, Codementor picked Dart as the #1 worst computer language to learn in 2018:

Worst Programming Languages to Learn in 2018 | Codementor Blog

#1 Dart
<...>
Note: When this post was written and published, Google Flutter beta had not yet been announced. What effect Flutter will have on the job market, community engagement, and Dart's trajectory is yet to be determined. Stay tuned to see how this will change the list in 2019.

 

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[ApparentHorizon]

Right at this moment, I would watch some of the Dart/Flutter videos that have been released in the last month. Recently Dart2 was released, and Flutter went from Alpha to Beta. Dart was considered a dead language a just few months ago.

Since Flutter just went in to Beta, it is not a good idea to start using it for production quality apps, but you can certainly start playing around with it. Having said that, the "Hamilton" app was written in Flutter.

Two recent videos:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq4N0hgOWzU

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7TXamVRSbY


Hamilton App:
Google Developers Blog: Hamilton App Takes the Stage


An example of people thinking Dart was dead, Codementor picked Dart as the #1 worst computer language to learn in 2018:

Worst Programming Languages to Learn in 2018 | Codementor Blog

#1 Dart
<...>
Note: When this post was written and published, Google Flutter beta had not yet been announced. What effect Flutter will have on the job market, community engagement, and Dart's trajectory is yet to be determined. Stay tuned to see how this will change the list in 2019.

Dart is Java's bastard child. If they'd changed to something Python based, maybe people would get excited about developing for a new OS.

Remember kids, Google/Alphabet will just drop a project that doesn't take off and run to the next shiny thing.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Remember kids, Google/Alphabet will just drop a project that doesn't take off and run to the next shiny thing.

Yup. I thought Google was immune to failure but Google Plus proved otherwise, even after they continue shoving it down our throats. Dart as a base sounds like using improperly mixed cement for your home's foundation.

 

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[amp0193]

Thanks @loop101. I haven't heard of any of this before, and it sounds big!

so how can we get started?

Code an app in Flutter.

 

[loop101]

My feeling about Dart is that Google got really "lucky". I use quotes because Google had been working hard on it, even though the potential "killer app" may not have been predicted by them. The "killer app" (IMHO) is native iOS/Android app development.

Dart started off as a competitor to Javascript. Then it evolved in to some weird ActiveX-like technology that required a VM. Then they built the VM in to Chrome and created a bastard "Dartium" browser. Next they tried using Dart to just generate JavaScript. They were all over the place with Dart. People soon considered it a "dead" language. Then Flutter appeared, and now it is coming back. In Google trends you can seen a big spike for "flutter" on Feb 28, Flutter entered Beta on Feb 27.

An interesting feature of Dart/Flutter is, they have both AOT and JIT compilers. The JIT (Just-In-Time) compiler is used during the development, and can update a running iOS native app in .5 seconds. The AOT (Ahead-Of-Time) compiler is used to build the final application, so it is super-optimized before you ship it.

I am guessing that the next shoe to drop, will be Dart/Flutter being used to make desktop apps. Google said they had "no plans" to make desktop Win/Mac/Linux apps with Flutter, but a lot of people think that will change as they realize how popular it is likely to be. I think they really were just thinking about Fuschia, and how to get apps for Fuschia, and underestimated the demand for something to replace PhoneGap/Cordova/Xamarin/etc. People want to use it RIGHT NOW, and aren't even thinking about Fuscia.

Yet Fuschia is a giant opportunity, too. Not often you can restart all the mobile apps at zero, and give everyone a fresh start.

 

[masaldana2]

meh, its just hype of yet another cross platform framework .
1: instill fear. one programming language to rule them all
2: sell solution( ebook)
3: profit

heard the same story with progressive web apps, react native, xamarin, web 3.0 etherum, etc...

 

[Owner2Millions]

Lol.....from a engineering prospective Google as a company is smart, fun and loves to experiment and that’s great. But from a business prospective they still make a LARGE chunk of their profit from marketing(ads) and as a business they kind of suck due to them trying to get into every industry. they give a lot of things away for free and they push out a lot experimental shit to see if it sticks to the wall. Google glass should have been huge back in 2012 right?

They talk about so many things they want to work on and not many of them are release to the public. Idk how I feel about this since they have a track record of hyping things up and then when there is lackluster sales or response to it they axe it. Now if Apple said this I think it would have a taken more seriously. But they also have products that don’t do as well as expected such as the Apple Watch(fugly device) but they don’t give up so easily and keep trying to improve it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[loop101]

Flutter 1.0 released, gains the ability the to run on Windows, Mac, Linux, and in a browser. Recap of keynote:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-o4BqJxmJE

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SZZfpkVhwk

 

[rpeck90]

Google's ship sailed long ago - they're just sitting atop their ivory tower now.

The next "big" thing will be a platform to unify blockchain. What Standard did for oil, Carnegie did for steel, Ford did for cars, G did for "web", Amazon did for eCom, Microsoft did for personal computers, Oracle did for data management, Facebook did for the "personal" web... some company will come along and do for "digital everything".

EVERYTHING in your life will have the capacity to be digitally labelled and its place in the world tracked, manipulated and managed. Think sending a parcel - rather than going to the post office, you'll be able to log it into the platform and have shipping companies bid on your package. You want to go out to some bar? You'll be able to see exactly which of your friends have been there recently, what offers they have right now, how many people are at the bar and a multitude of other apps (how attractive the people are there etc)... all with completely independent data.

You may call it AI, automation or whatever... that's just a bi-product of the overall shift. You don't get that stuff without the underlying platform, system and infrastructure to make it work. Some company will rise in the next 5 - 10 years to create said platform. I don't know which, and its likely not many will either, as they'll be in some garage somewhere. The guys who do that stuff are generally very weird. But they're there. And they're going to be HUGE.

 

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[Anon48331]

so how can we get started?

 

[Late Bloomer]

Remember kids, Google/Alphabet will just drop a project that doesn't take off and run to the next shiny thing.

Yes. At a previous corporate job, I was involved with the wonderful new thing from Google that would let us integrate with their hot new service, in an industry that desperately needed some adult supervision about online access. Google lost interest and shut down the whole thing. They've done this before. Some people succeed by finding the right time to try to put a saddle on the dragon, some people get thrown off or burned.

Google is strong in programming languages, virtual machines, and compatibility layers. I expect that the current toolset will work for a while on Fuschia. Even if all new code for Fuschia MUST use only Dart after some cutoff a few years away, there will be code monkeys for hire who can implement something in Dart. The question then, just as the question for Android and iOS apps now, is: What's the business value of implementing that something? Who will want to run the app and how does that make a profit for someone? This is the more valuable thing to figure out.

 

[loop101]

Odd, a top youtuber coder (Chris Hawkes) put out a video of top 20 languages to learn in 2019 and Dart was ranked #20. Javascript was ranked #1.

I'm also a little confused about this new google OS. Wouldn't that be admitting that chromebooks were a mistake?

I am familiar with Chris Hawkes channel, but do not put much faith in his opinions. IMHO, he is still new to the field, and is too amateurish. I did feel bad for him when his wife left, and took their blue-haired daughter with her.

Fuchsia replacing ChromeOS is no different than Windows replacing DOS, or Windows 10 replacing Windows 8, etc.

One mistake Google *is* admitting is that using an OS (Linux) they don't control was a mistake. Another mistake was using a language (Java) that they don't control. Fuchsia/Dart will correct those mistakes. They will be more like Apple.

 

[Sanj Modha]

97% of Google's revenue comes from Adwords. Think about that for a second.

So, I'm very skeptical when I hear the "next big thing" will come from Google.

 

[masterneme]

I had high hopes with this because it could mean an increase in ARM based desktop computers, which means Microsoft Windows and Intel would have competitors and users would enjoy more options.

But I'm going to remain cautious because I don't fully like the idea of deprecating Linux and, as others noted, Google could kill the project any time and f**k us all... again.

As long as the Play Store and its access is controlled by Google, they'll own the entire ecosystem.

Edit:

Dart is Java's bastard child. If they'd changed to something Python based, maybe people would get excited about developing for a new OS.

Yes please give me Python!

 

[masaldana2]

im going to leave this here and walk away slowly

im a swift dev btw.

 

[loop101]

Flutter 2 is out, web app support is now production ready, and Windows/OSX/Linux support is almost ready.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKEgmk645aE

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAstl_NkXl0

Google for Developers Blog - News about Web, Mobile, AI and Cloud

developers.googleblog.com

 

[BreakAlive]

Flutter is nice because businesses can save a lot of money duplicating the exact functionality across both Android and iOS. Most apps are just consuming some API data and rending it on screen... nothing fancy. It's incredibly expensive and wasteful maintaining 2 code bases just to do the same thing.

But, there's still one huge puzzle piece missing.. the web.

This is why Progress Web Apps (PWAs) is going to be huge. PWA is ONE code base for web, Android and iOS.

Check out these PWA examples.
Progressive Web App Room - The best examples of pwa

If you look at them on your phone you should be able to add these apps onto your mobile home screen. You essentially can't tell that it's not an native app and it works across all 3 different platforms.

I'll quote a mobile tech lead at Google:

But will [Flutter] replace native development?
Not likely. I think a bigger revolution is needed.

Once devices get fast enough that you can build material design interactions on a mobile website, Flutter (or any native app) doesn’t stand a chance against progressive webapps.

Here's a site that shows what PWA can't currently do that native can - What Web Can Do Today

My next business/app will be written as a PWA for sure.

 

[ApparentHorizon]

Yes. At a previous corporate job, I was involved with the wonderful new thing from Google that would let us integrate with their hot new service, in an industry that desperately needed some adult supervision about online access. Google lost interest and shut down the whole thing. They've done this before. Some people succeed by finding the right time to try to put a saddle on the dragon, some people get thrown off or burned.

Google is strong in programming languages, virtual machines, and compatibility layers. I expect that the current toolset will work for a while on Fuschia. Even if all new code for Fuschia MUST use only Dart after some cutoff a few years away, there will be code monkeys for hire who can implement something in Dart. The question then, just as the question for Android and iOS apps now, is: What's the business value of implementing that something? Who will want to run the app and how does that make a profit for someone? This is the more valuable thing to figure out.

Rumors are it's an Android replacement, commanding a whopping 80%+ market share. Android apps will be backwards compatible, but they won't have access to the same functionality as what Flutter offers. So it will be a quasi new platform, where first movers advantage matters.

They're changing their strategy, however. Instead of putting out a product that people have to adopt, they're supplanting existing tech.

AMP wasn't taking off, so they've partnered with WordPress to integrate it. I imagine somewhere in the Gutenberg release we'll see some news.

Allo, their messaging app, became one of those "abandoned projects" just last week. Now they're talking with carriers to turn your standard SMS into some other crazy concoction.

 

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[Late Bloomer]

Allo, their messaging app, became one of those "abandoned projects" just last week. Now they're talking with carriers to turn your standard SMS into some other crazy concoction.

By now we were supposed to all be using Google Wave instead of email, instant messaging, forums, Slack, wikis etc. It would be hard to push a technology platform harder than Google pushed Wave... and hard to find one buried deeper at the bottom of the ocean, than Wave is now.

 

[ApparentHorizon]

2018 IO Event starts today. Looks like Android is getting a lot of attention this year:

Google I/O 2018

 

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[loop101]

Mischook (Web Apps) and Wroolie (Mobile Apps) are both interested.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fSwFrDEiz0

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0tj48wXwMA

 

[daivey]

Flutter is nice because businesses can save a lot of money duplicating the exact functionality across both Android and iOS. Most apps are just consuming some API data and rending it on screen... nothing fancy. It's incredibly expensive and wasteful maintaining 2 code bases just to do the same thing.

But, there's still one huge puzzle piece missing.. the web.

This is why Progress Web Apps (PWAs) is going to be huge. PWA is ONE code base for web, Android and iOS.

Check out these PWA examples.
Progressive Web App Room - The best examples of pwa

If you look at them on your phone you should be able to add these apps onto your mobile home screen. You essentially can't tell that it's not an native app and it works across all 3 different platforms.

I'll quote a mobile tech lead at Google:


Here's a site that shows what PWA can't currently do that native can - What Web Can Do Today

My next business/app will be written as a PWA for sure.

yes and to take this a step further:

once data transfer rates become fast enough world wide, there will be no processing power needed from your home/phone/etc.

all you will require is a streaming machine, because all processing will be done server side. you will just a machine fast enough to to transfer data over web/receive data.

 

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[NuclearPuma]

What problem does this solve?

Write iOS and android apps once instead of twice?

 

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[MooreMillions]

Google's ship sailed long ago - they're just sitting atop their ivory tower now.

The next "big" thing will be a platform to unify blockchain. What Standard did for oil, Carnegie did for steel, Ford did for cars, G did for "web", Amazon did for eCom, Microsoft did for personal computers, Oracle did for data management, Facebook did for the "personal" web... some company will come along and do for "digital everything".

EVERYTHING in your life will have the capacity to be digitally labelled and its place in the world tracked, manipulated and managed. Think sending a parcel - rather than going to the post office, you'll be able to log it into the platform and have shipping companies bid on your package. You want to go out to some bar? You'll be able to see exactly which of your friends have been there recently, what offers they have right now, how many people are at the bar and a multitude of other apps (how attractive the people are there etc)... all with completely independent data.

You may call it AI, automation or whatever... that's just a bi-product of the overall shift. You don't get that stuff without the underlying platform, system and infrastructure to make it work. Some company will rise in the next 5 - 10 years to create said platform. I don't know which, and its likely not many will either, as they'll be in some garage somewhere. The guys who do that stuff are generally very weird. But they're there. And they're going to be HUGE.

And you just nailed it, SPOT ON!

NOTHING else in tech is more important than this, right now.

The absolute largest pain point in technology is PRIVACY, in every point of use of technology!

The balm for this pain is blockchain technology. Whoever builds a functioning platform for the masses, FIRST, has the ability to make Amazon a distant memory at the top of the foodchain, that is unless...they have already positioned themselves in the sector.

Even though I was a early investor in crypto, and as a non-technical individual, I was always much more excited about what blockchain had to offer vs. it just being associated with cryptocurrency. That limited scope will leave much larger financial gains for the well informed.

I'm excited!

 

[loop101]

Flutter officially goes multi-platform today:

Google Developers Blog: Flutter: a Portable UI Framework for Mobile, Web, Embedded, and Desktop

Google is now working with App Brewery for training:

The Complete Flutter Development Bootcamp with Dart

 

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[rjrobbins2]

97% of Google's revenue comes from Adwords. Think about that for a second.

So, I'm very skeptical when I hear the "next big thing" will come from Google.

You may be right but from what I understand from current and forum Google employees I know is that the amount of things they dont ever release is incredible. They are continually working on new projects and the fact that they give their employees antonomy to create means that something could pop up at any second. But, as you said, maybe not. Maybe they will continue to coast along. Although Fuschia may or may not be the next huge thing.

 

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[loop101]

In 2-3 years, Google will release a new OS that will unify the Chrome OS and Android systems, remove Linux as a dependency, remove Java as a dependency, be free and open-source, and be unencumbered by patents. The OS is called Fuschia, and all Fuschia apps will be written in Dart using the Flutter framework. Google will essentially control the OS, framework, and language.

It's now been 3 years, but Fuchsia is still not out. They seem to still be working on the best way to run Android apps, either in a Linux VM or an API mapping system (like WINE does). Google isn't saying when they expect Fuchsia to be ready. ChromeOS is now the #2 most common desktop OS. Flutter seems to be doing well, recently version 2.0 was released. Google sponsored a Flutter class at London App Brewery with Angela Yu, the free one has been replaced by an updated one ($10).

Google might have quietly teased the OS that will replace Android

A newly discovered welcome screen design for Chrome OS contains clues that Google is looking toward a future where the same OS could work on …

bgr.com

Google proposes way for Fuchsia OS to run Android and Linux programs 'natively'

A proposal for Google's Fuchsia OS shows how this "not Linux" operating system could run 'unmodified' programs for both Android and Linux.

9to5google.com

The Complete 2021 Flutter Development Bootcamp with Dart

The Complete Flutter Development Bootcamp with Dart

www.appbrewery.co

 

[loop101]

Fuchsia OS is now being rolled out to 1st Gen Nest Hubs:

Google’s long-in-development, from-scratch operating system, Fuchsia, is now running on real Made by Google devices, namely, the first-generation Nest Hub.

Google has told us that as of today, an update is beginning to roll out to owners of the first-generation Nest Hub, first released in 2018. For all intents and purposes, this update will not change any of the functionality of the Nest Hub, but under the hood, the smart display will be running Fuchsia OS instead of the Linux-based “Cast OS” it used before. In fact, your experience with the Nest Hub should be essentially identical. This is possible because Google’s smart display experience is built with Flutter, which is designed to consistently bring apps to multiple platforms, Fuchsia included.

Google is officially releasing its Fuchsia OS, starting w/ first-gen Nest Hub

Google's long-in-development, from-scratch operating system, Fuchsia, is now running on real Made by Google devices, namely, the Nest Hub.

9to5google.com

 

[loop101]

Flutter 3 is out. "Stable" desktop platforms are now Windows, and also MacOS and Linux. Documentation is updated, Apple M1 Support, and a Games Toolkit.

What's new

A list of what's new on docs.flutter.dev and related documentation sites.

docs.flutter.dev

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ezWG1yKQQ

 

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