Indeed, Android app development is why I added the non-core part. Try as I might, I can't deny that it's a vast (business) ecosystem. Too big too fail and part of the money printer.

I wouldn't call IDX core because it doesn't solve the problem the article opens with. It says that modern app stacks are complex. IDX doesn't solve that at all. There's the same amount of moving parts behind the curtain, it's just that stitching them together is made easier.

The motivation for the service is unclear, but in itself it can't produce serious revenue so I guess it's an on-ramp to Google Cloud hosting. And perhaps another "free" service to train AI on.