Ever since Matias Duarte joined Google some time ago we’ve been excited to see just how Android would change at his hands. The first major advancement came with Honeycomb and then Ice Cream Sandwich after it. Critics have had nothing but positive things to say about the designer’s vision for Android. The new Holo theme has received a lot of praise and it’s really brought out the beauty in the OS.
Matias Duarte first made a name for himself designing WebOS, the operating system that the then fledging Palm hoped would bring them back out on top of the mobile industry. Palm faced a number of setbacks however and the company was sold to HP, just before that Duarte made the jump to Google to work on Android with an old friend – Andy Rubin. Matias certainly made Android look good, the stock themes of 2.2 and below really left something to be desired, there was nothing functionally wrong with those builds but they really didn’t look that nice. From Honeycomb onwards we’ve seen the Holo theme evolve and come into it’s own, it looks good and it’s cohesive throughout the platform. It’s not just in looks though, some of the internal Android mechanics have changed in the last couple of years and the recent apps menu saw a major revision for the better in the Ice Cream Sandwich update. Matias says he’s not done yet though, responding to a negative comment about UX on Google+ he had this to say:
“It’s true, we still have a lot of work to do. Personally I feel like I’ve gotten only about a third of the way to where I want to be with regards to consistency, responsiveness, and polish.
Better get back to work!”
It’s encouraging to see this, it delivers a message that Android will change in the future not because of incoming law suits or litigation but because the people behind it think it should do. Which is the only reason change should be implemented – if and when it’s needed. I’m sure we’re all excited to see what Android will bring and it’s said that Google have a Key Lime Pie in the oven ready and waiting to come out.