Samsung adds Multi-Window despite threat from Google ? Cell ...

Cornerstone on CyanogenMod

Samsung is working as hard as they can to make sure that their version of Android is different than the rest. This means building features that you don?t see anywhere else, like?Multi-Window on the Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. This function does just what you expect ? it allows users to run two apps side-by-side in a split-screen. It doesn?t work for every app, but many third party apps are permitted to be loaded side by side with a handful of software that Samsung has optimized for use.

It might sound unique, but this wasn?t the first time I?ve seen something like this. In fact, back in February the CyanogenMod team were considering adding a similar service called ?Cornerstone? until Google threatened consequences for implementing this service on devices that Google supported.

What Cornerstone and Samsung?Multi-Window share is the ability to truly multitask in a windowed environment. While Cornerstone is certainly more robust than Multi-Window, allowing you to create multiple panes and even retain access to the home screen, the effect that the services have on apps is fairly similar. The apps are forced into nonstandard views, which could potentially cause a poor experience.

When the Android team, specifically software engineer Dianne Hackborn, saw plans to implement Cornerstone into the next version of CyanogenMod it became abundantly clear that there were those at Google who did not want this to happen. Hackborn?s comments regarding the announcement began as a plea not to implement a potentially disruptive system and ended with direct threats, complete with consequences should the team move forward with Cornerstone.

Multi-Window?on the Galaxy Note 2

Google?s concerns were, and still are, completely legitimate. If someone was using Cornerstone and installed an app that did not function well because the developer did not account for Cornerstone, users may blame the developer. If the CyanogenMod team were to move forward with Cornerstone, Hackborn noted that some deep issues would arise and the way CM users interacted with the Play Store would be affected.

In a conversation with Steve Kondik on Google+, Hackborn commented that if the team started making CM behave in a fundamentally different way than stock Android, they were going to need to start doing things to prevent CM from impacting the Android app ecosystem. She continued to suggest that one way they might accomplish this would be to restrict how users could interact with Market apps while running CM.

An example of this could be as minor as not allowing CM users to rate apps and publish reviews, but could also be as severe as to completely restrict CM users from the Google Play Store. The Android team would be able to easily justify removing Play Store access, since CyanogenMod ROMs do not pass the Android Compatibility Test Suite. It is worth pointing out that there is no way for CyanogenMod to pass the Android CTS at the moment, since there are no devices running CyanogenMod at the time of purchase.

At this point it?s unclear how exactly Samsung got around this same issue and what process they use to choose which apps work inside a split-screen and which do not. When asked why Samsung was allowed to implement?Multi-Window while CyanogenMod were essentially bullied into never releasing Cornerstone in CM9, Hackborn explained that she had never used?Multi-Window and was not involved in relationships with Samsung.

Cornerstone on Cyanogenmod 9

Cornerstone was never included in CyanogenMod, though the lack of a response from Google when asked about Multi-Window may cause the team to reconsider. Steve Kondik, more commonly known in the Android community as Cyanogen, noted in quick response to Hackborn back in February that Cornerstone was never intended to be a default configuration for CyanogenMod, rather something that the user would need to choose to use. Split-screen functionality has been something that both Android and iOS enthusiasts have desired for some time. In fact, jailbroken iPads can operate in a windowed experience not unlike Cornerstone (after a bit of customization).

This show of force is not commonly seen from Google, and as far as I can tell there have been no further communications between Google and CyanogenMod on the subject. Pressure from Google caused the CyanogenMod team to shelf the Cornerstone system, and even now in CM 10 there?s no mention of Cornerstone making a comeback. In fact, the last update to Cornerstone from the developers that were originally working on it was only weeks after the CM team were advised not to pursue it. With the release of?Multi-Window and the new Android design guidelines to help apps work on many different screen sizes, maybe there is finally room in Android for something like Cornerstone.

Source: http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/samsung-adds-multi-window-despite-threat-from-google-2012109/

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