[onion2k]

At HN?!

HN is a diverse bunch. There are lots of non-technical people here. But even ignoring that, there's a hell of a difference between 'knowing to how to code' and 'knowing how to write an Android app'. I've been writing code for 25 years, and I know for certain it'd take me several evenings to be able to make a working Android app, and a lot more to make one I was actually happy with to the point I'd use it.

[mdp2021]

> HN is a diverse bunch. There are lots of non-technical people here. But even ignoring that, there's a hell of a difference between 'knowing to how to code' and 'knowing how to write an Android app'

Absolutely, and absolutely. But if one is keen on QoL boosts, coding remains a foremost helpful skill, and currently coding for mobile devices is a further booster.

> several evenings ... and a lot more

I would suggest that the amount of competence to get you started to the point of applications usable to your satisfaction is probably lower than you seem to suggest (if you are already proficient in Java); and that the amount of blasphemy you could spend against the workings of the available libraries and time lost in code that "should just work" is probably not only in general underestimated, but really in this realm you would meet it a lot in practice.

[vidarh]

> is probably lower than you seem to suggest (if you are already proficient in Java)

So in other words it's probably not lower than suggested.

And certainly higher than the skills required to order and plug in a home assistant that offers a superior interface (doesn't require clean and free hands)

[mdp2021]

True it is that the technologist engineers, in a way, to celebrate laziness. But on the other hand, it does not take a hacker to «order and plug in».

Now, the context is more on drawbacks, and it was the very poster to note an intention to «replace [it] with something fully local».