I was very fortunate to attend the annual Google I/O Conference in Mountain View, California this year. I decided to get there a few days earlier to do a bit of sightseeing. I got to see Muir Woods with Chiu-Ki and Marie.
We also stopped by the Golden Gate Bridge.
I walked the streets of San Francisco and loved the look of the buildings, the way they are built on slanted streets. I had a great time exploring the city.
The night before I/O, I attended two of the many parties that were on offer. I first attended the Women TechMakers Dinner which was spectacular, I met many Android ladies which was really nice. The venue also looked like a wedding was about to happen, it was very magical.
At the #WTMDinner #io16 😀 so many ladies pic.twitter.com/7ZBBkobB0o
— Rebecca (@riggaroo) May 18, 2016
Day 1 was hot and very busy, I was a bit bummed because I couldn’t get into a couple of sessions that I wanted to see but now I will be catching up with them on YouTube.
The highlights for me:
- Announcement of Google Home. I am interested to see how it can integrate more seamlessly into everyday life
- New Layout Builder and the new tools introduced into Android Studio like APK analyser & Constraint Layout.
- Ability to generate Espresso Test code from recording your actions.
- Instant Apps – which allow a user to use your app without installing it from the PlayStore.
- Firebase announcements – push notifications and deep linking.
I did manage to see a lot of sessions, some of which I took sketchnotes for. Here are the sketchnotes I took from all the talks I attended:
“Image Compression for Android Developers”
Attempted sketch noting at #io16 for "image compression for android devs" it was fun. @duhroach #io16 pic.twitter.com/L3VYnhLZzb
— Rebecca Franks (@riggaroo) May 18, 2016
“Battery and Memory Optimisations”
Enjoyed the talk on Battery & Memory Optimisations in Android! #io16 pic.twitter.com/6xvr6PW9Wk
— Rebecca Franks (@riggaroo) May 19, 2016
“Growing your app with Firebase”
Attended "Growing your app with Firebase" – exciting features Remote Config, Notifications #io16 #firebase pic.twitter.com/HIGmrnqdld
— Rebecca Franks (@riggaroo) May 19, 2016
My #sketchnotes on ConstraintLayout. Ran out of space. Sketchnote n00b. #io16 #anddev pic.twitter.com/ExN5flu0TS
— Rebecca Franks (@riggaroo) May 20, 2016
There was an option to get your app reviewed by a designer and get some advice which was really valuable for me. I received some good ideas for how to make Book Dash more kid-friendly and I am excited to try out the ideas.
I attended a meet up with all the other Android Google Developer Experts which I found to be very valuable as we discussed what the highlights of the conference were for us.
All in all – I had a great time and cannot wait to go again.
Did you attend Google I/O? Tell me all about it in the comments below!
Till next time California 😀
Comments
4 responses to “Attending Google I/O for the first time”
This is so awesome rebecca! How i wish was there. i love your sketches and would like to imitate your note keeping style. I need your permission to do that. (To avoid copyright issues) Lol.
I was lucky enough to attend for my first time also this year. I haven’t been in Android development for very long but the things I learned from those presentations were invaluable. I was in attendance at the Firebase and Constraint Layout talks and I’m looking forward to incorporating them soon.
Great to hear! I really enjoyed all the booths where you could chat to the teams and ask them questions. For me that was the best part of the conference.
Sketch noting isn’t that difficult. Try it out! I enjoy it (even if I am not good at it)