Google has
released the first developer preview for Android O, the next major version of Google’s operating system for smartphones, tablets, and other devices.
Among other things, the update brings new notification behavior, support for picture-in-picture on smartphones, and power management improvements.
The Android O developer preview is very much pre-release software, and Google doesn’t really encourage anyone but developers to try it out yet. But if you’ve got a Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, or Nexus Player, you can find
factory images at Google’s developer site .
Google plans to release the final version of Android O in the third quarter of 2017.
Here are some of the things that are new in Android O.
Notification channels Developers can set different channels for each type of notification, allowing users to adjust settings based on the type of notification.
For example, if you have a news app, you could create separate notification channels for world news, us news, tech news, and business news. Then users could opt to only see alerts for the channels they’re interested in… or to only allow some types of alerts to cause their phone to vibrate or make a sound.
Picture in Picture mode Google introduced multi-window support with Android N. The next version of Android introduces a new way to view two apps at once.
In addition to displaying two apps in side-by-side windows, you can view one in a smaller window running on top of a full-screen app. This lets you do things like watch a video in a small window while surfing the web on a larger screen.
Picture in Picture (PIP) mode was already available for Android TV, but with Android O it’s coming to smartphones as well.
Autofill Framework Adaptive Icons There’s support for a new type of home screen/launcher icon that changes shape depending on the device you’re using.
For example, an OEM that has a launcher featuring square icons can show square icons for your app, while phones with circular icons on the home screen will automatically choose your app’s circular icon.
Adaptive icons show up in home screen icons, shortcuts, settings, and share dialogs.
Background process limits Google is imposing new restrictions on what apps can do in the background in an effort to reduce the impact of background processes from third-party apps on battery life.
This comes through new
Background Execution Limits and
Background Location Limits .
Enhanced support for multiple displays Apps that support multi-window mode can now be moved between multiple displays on any device that has more than one display. For example, if you’re using a Chromebook with Android app support and HDMI output, you should be able to view one app on a monitor and another on your Chromebook screen.
Note that only one app can be in a “resumed state” at a time, which means you can look at two apps at a time this way, but only the one that has focus will be fully active, while the other will be paused (but not stopped).
And much more Here are just a few of the other changes in Android O: Overhauled
Settings menus New options for
tweaking the Android Nav Bar user interface using the System UI Tuner
The System UI Tuner also lets you
select up to two lock screen shortcuts to quickly launch messenger, or a browser instead of the camera, for example
Developers can now create apps that display wide-gamut color images on devices with wide-gamut color displays
Better support for high-quality Bluetooth audio thanks to
aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC codec support New developer options also let you
adjust sample rate and other settings for Bluetooth audio codecs
Wi-Fi Aware feature allows some devices to discover and connect to one another without using internet access
Improved keyboard navigation for Chromebooks with Android app support and other devices with keyboard (including consistent arrow and tab behavior)
AAudio API for high-performance, low-latency audio
Multiprocess mode for WebView is enabled by default
Fonts in XML feature that lets developers use fonts as resources without bundling them as assets
Support for
in-app pinning of shortcuts and widgets Developers can declare the “category” their apps fit into, allowing similar apps to be grouped together for presentation of things like data usage, storage usage, or battery usage
Support for
notification badges on the home screen Installation of apps from unknown sources has to be
approved on an app-by-app basis instead of via a universal setting
There are also clues that
a native theme manager may be coming to Android.
This is just the start.
Google says a second developer preview is
on track to launch in May , followed by a 3rd version with the final developer APIs in June. One last developer preview is scheduled for a July release, before Android ) is officially released to OEMs and the Android Open Source project in the third quarter of 2017.
VIDEO source:liliputing