Google rolls out Android Instant Apps for limited testing

Google first introduced Instant Apps as its annual I/O conference last year. Android Instant apps work, without the need to download the app.

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Google first introduced Instant Apps as its annual I/O conference last year. Android Instant apps work, without the need to download the app.

Google’s Instant Apps is now live for Android users in a limited test format with some select app publishers. Google first introduced Instant Apps as its annual I/O conference last year. Android Instant apps work without the need to download the app. For example, when you click on a link, Google Play fetches only the ‘part’ of the app that is needed at the moment and starts playing link in the app. So the user is not required to download the app, and gets an “app-like” experience.

“To develop an instant app, you’ll need to update your existing Android app to take advantage of Instant Apps functionality and then modularize your app so part of it can be downloaded and run on-the-fly,” said Aurash Mahbod, Software Engineer, Google Play in a blogpost.

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As of now, Instant Apps are only available from BuzzFeed, Wish, Periscope, and Viki. The search giant will expand its offering for more apps based on users’ feedback. “There has already been a tremendous amount of interest in Instant Apps from thousands of developers,” says Mahbod.

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Android Instant apps comes with backward compatibility (up to Jelly Bean). Google says, it will take developers “less than a day of work” to modularise their apps.

With instant app, the advantage is that you won’t always need an app to take up space on your phone. For example, while looking for products to shop online, you’ll not be required to have a particular e-commerce app downloaded on your phone. So say, if you want to buy a particular jeans from Flipkart, Google will open details of the product irrespective of the fact whether you have Flipkart app on your device. You can swipe through pages to look into details of the product and buy the same from Flipkart, without actually downloading its app.

For now, Instant Apps is in the early phase of its live testing and Google will need more developers to come on board for this.

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