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Android Alpha 6

There is a new Android build of Lagrange that is based on the desktop v1.11 release.

Available now via F-Droid

Download the APK directly

There wasn't really anything mobile-specific in v1.11, so the Android integration hasn't progressed either. The plan remains the same: focus for now on the iOS port and when that is nearing completion, shift more to the Android port.

Of course, v1.11 did have a few quite useful improvements like the ability to search for fontpacks, which improve the UX on Android as well.

Dev env

There is one big difference in Alpha 6, though: it was built on a completely different machine than the older builds, and all the dependencies were rebuilt as well. Hopefully everything still works as well as before!

I was fortunate to upgrade my laptop recently, and now I can use the same machine for Mac, iOS, and Android development. In practice, I've noticed that it's a huge hindrance if I'm required to use a secondary computer, especially if it warrants sitting at a desk in a specific room. This was the case with the previous Android builds: they were made on a desktop XUbuntu PC that I use pretty rarely.

Come to think of it, the last time I was a desktop-first user was somewhere around 2010. Since then I've been using various MacBook Airs and Pros as my main machine. I can't imagine ever returning to full-time desktop computing, much like I can't imagine returning to using wired headphones. The mobile/wireless lifestyle is so much more convenient and flexible.

I can't promise this upgraded development environment translates to amazing progress with the Android builds, but it certainly will help.

📅 2022-03-04

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