Industry News - Week of Nov. 1, 2021

IN THIS ISSUE: Chrome Dev Summit Begins; Android 12 Ships; Google Slashes Play Fee; New HTTP Caching Standards Coming; Google Play Apps on Windows 11; PWA Apps Getting Closer

Chrome Dev Summit Begins Wednesday

Google's annual confab for Chrome developers kicks off this week with a keynote that reportedly will deliver guidance and platform updates as well as developers pushing the envelope.  

Android 12 Ships for Pixels, Non-Google Devices Still Waiting

The A-12 web site showcases an all-new UI, touch-responsive motion, color schemes that automatically sync with user-selected wallpaper, and hundreds of other enhancements. Android 12 for non-Google phones remains in beta. See the reddit page for more.

Google Slashes its Pay for Play  

Google has reduced its fee for subscription-based apps sold on the Play store to 15 percent, down from 30 percent. It also has reduced streaming-app fees to 10 percent, citing in an October blog post the need to move away from the "one-size-fits-all" model. 

New HTTP Caching Standards are Coming

To counter the exponential rise of data being amassed on the web, the Internet Engineering Task Force's HTTP Working Group is developing new ways to allow websites to cache their static data that's on par with the content delivery networks (CDNs) in place today. 

Get Google Play Apps on Windows 11

On the heels of Microsoft's announcement of Android Apps on Windows 11 program for Windows Insiders, a student has uncovered a way for Windows users to break the chains that bind the platform to Amazon's Appstore. 

Progressive Web Apps Getting Closer 

Progrssive web apps have been discussed for years as a faster and easier way to build native-like apps. The tech does appear to be getting closer. Here's an update following the PWA Summit in October.