Recent content on Cyril Mottier
Back in June, Benoît Quenaudon and I gave a talk called “Instant Apps Eulogy” at droidcon New York. Here was the abstract. Last year we asked ourselves a question. One that most Android engineers avoid whispering aloud: Are Instant Apps still a thing? It turns out that Google officially said no! Instant Apps are fascinating because they offer possibilities outside of what Google…
I recently revamped my personal website for several reasons: to achieve a more modern design, switch to a faster website generator (Hugo instead of Octopress), and remove outdated articles, some of which were written in the 2000s! However, many followers on social media have asked to bring back the old version of cyrilmottier.com, expressing both nostalgia and a genuine appreciation for the older…
Edit - Aug 4 : adding link to the video on YouTube I recently gave a keynote called “Building Scalable Mobile Projects: Fast Builds, High Reusability and Clear Ownership” at Android Makers 2025 in Paris. Here was the abstract. Every successful project eventually faces the challenges of scaling: an ever-growing codebase, an increasing number of contributors, and rising complexity.…
This article was initially published as on the official Android Developers blog . As the original author and for the sake of readability and long-term availability, it is now available. At amo , we are redefining what it means to build social applications. Our mission is to create a new kind of social company, one that prioritizes high-quality, thoughtfully designed mobile experiences. One of our…
This article was initially published as a thread of posts on X . For the sake of readability and long-term availability, it is now available here as a single-page article. Post 1 A few months ago, I built a custom URL shortener. Quick refresher: a URL shortener does two things: Creates short URLs that map to long URLs Redirects short URL requests to those long URLs. Designing this was a fantastic…
My name is Cyril Mottier, and I am an accomplished engineering leader with a diverse background in consumer-focused technology. Throughout my career, I have contributed to a variety of industries, including festivals, transportation, social networks, and marketplaces. Notably, I have been part of innovative and successful companies such as Captain Train (acquired by Trainline), and Zenly (acquired…
This article was initially published as a thread of posts on X . For the sake of readability and long-term availability, it is now available here as a single-page article. Post 1 In the amo apps, profile pictures are done a bit differently. You record “Your Face”, a transparent animated boomerang-like cutout. It feels more personal. You see your friends come to life on-screen, not…