On 21/03/2017 there is a new release by Google for developers which is the first preview of its new mobile operating system called Android O. This is a great opportunity for Android App development companies and developers which help them to build future apps more compatible using design guidelines and new APIs.
One of the major differences between Android N and O preview version is that Google made immediate updates for Android N to anybody who was willing to give it a try. But with Android O, Google is not releasing the Beta version right away.
The first Android O Developer Preview is available for
• Pixel
• Pixel XL
• Pixel C
• Nexus 5X
• Nexus 6P
• Nexus Player.
The new version of Android will run through four preview versions
• Preview 2 hitting in mid-May
• Preview 3 in mid-June
• Preview 4 in August
• Final release will be available in the market around the third quarter of 2017.
Here are exciting features of Android O
Google has mentioned a gamut of new features as well as APIs in this new OS version as below
Battery life
Improving the battery life is one of the biggest and most welcomed features of Android O. Similar to iOS, Android O will limit and manage what apps do in the background while multiple apps are open.
Background limits
One of the biggest changes in Android O is background limits, which will helps in boost battery life and increase device performance. It will automatically limit some areas such as background services, implicit broadcasts and location updates. It makes possible for developers to build apps having less impact on battery and device with an increase in its performance results in developing efficient android apps
Picture-in-Picture Mode
Android O brings Picture-in-picture functionality which is already available in Android TV over to phones and tablets. With PIP, users will be able to continue watching a video while navigating around through other applications. This is a super handy feature, and one that should be welcomed by most Android users out there.
Connectivity
Now Android O now supports high-quality Bluetooth audio codecs such as LDAC codec. Plus, there’s a new native AAudio API that’s designed specifically for apps that require high-performance, low-latency audio.
New Wi-Fi features
Android O leverages the power of Wi-Fi to offer a host of new connectivity features. The updated OS will support features such as Neighbourhood Aware Networking (NAN). NAN allow apps and nearby devices communicate over Wi-Fi without an internet access point.
Notifications Channel
Android O also introduces notification channels, which are new app-defined categories for notification content. Channels let developers give users fine-grained control over different kinds of notifications — users can block or change the behavior of each channel individually, rather than managing all of the app’s notifications together.
Keyboard Navigation
Android O also adds better support for keyboard navigation, particularly when it comes to apps on Chrome OS. Google focused on building a more reliable model for “arrow” and “tab” navigation that aids both developers and users. This feature will allow developers to provide strong support to arrow and tab navigation in apps.
WebView enhancements:
In Android O, Google enabled multiprocess mode by default and adding an API to let app handle errors and crashes, for enhanced security and improved app stability. As a further security measure, you can now opt in your app’s WebView objects to verify URLs through Google Safe Browsing.
Autofill APIs
This made auto filling of login details easy and fast. With support of this API, it allows autofill apps to work in a similar manner that a keyboard app performs. The autofill app stores and secures user data, such as addresses, user names, and even passwords. Developers can use this API, if they require autofill in their app.
Adaptive Icons
This new feature of Android O enables to display adaptive icons in a variety of shapes in different models across different devices. It also animates interactions using the icons and allows making use of the icons in setting, shortcut, sharing dialogs, overview screen, etc.
Android O proffers several other significant features that comprise Font resources in XML, Java 8 Language APIs & runtime optimizations, WebView enhancements, Audio API for Pro Audio and several others.
This new Google’s next software facilitates developers to build android apps with more powerful features and functionalities that give the user best experience of its usage. With this next generation OS, Android App Development companies can develop highly advanced apps help their customers in gaining productivity and profitability using technology advantage.
The Tech Advisor team could come up with Oreo, Orange, Oatcake and Oh!
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