GDG Toronto’s I/O Extended brought together developers and tech journalists at MaRS Discovery District to break down the first day of Google I/O 2019.
The privacy pivot. Google leaned hard into privacy messaging—a notable shift given their business model. On-device processing for Assistant, more granular permissions, incognito mode in Maps. The panel debated whether this was genuine product evolution or defensive positioning against regulatory pressure.
Flutter’s momentum. Google doubled down on Flutter for cross-platform development. The panel included mobile engineers from Loblaw Digital and Intersect who weighed in on whether Flutter was ready for production or still a promising experiment.
Pixel 3a strategy. Google finally made a mid-range Pixel. The panel discussed whether the camera-first, stock Android approach could compete at $399 against Samsung and OnePlus.
On-device ML. Machine learning models running locally instead of in the cloud. Faster, more private, but constrained by mobile silicon. The implications for app developers were just starting to become clear.
The full panel is on YouTube.