Now in Android #101
Android 15 Developer Preview 2, #TheAndroidShow, the Google I/O date, the Meta Android OS Readiness Program, Google Play’s enhanced fraud protections and more!
Welcome to Now in Android; your ongoing guide to what’s new and notable in the world of Android development.
In this episode we cover Android 15 Developer Preview 2, The Android Show, the Google I/O date, the Meta Android OS Readiness Program, Google Play’s enhanced fraud protections, and more.
Most of the content of this post is available in the form of a video or podcast, so feel free to watch or listen rather than read on. (Or do all three to help you remember! There won’t be a quiz.)
The Second Developer Preview of Android 15 🧑💻
We released the second Developer Preview of Android 15. This developer preview focuses on communications, developer productivity, app flexibility across screens, privacy, app efficiency, and media refinements.
Android 15 Developer Preview 2 improves communication by extending platform support for satellite connectivity and making the tap to pay experience more seamless and reliable. It improves developer productivity with an enhanced PdfRenderer, automatic language switching refinements in speech recognition, granular line break controls to improve readability, and expanded IntentFilter Functionality to help with web-hosted deep links. It improves privacy by allowing apps to detect that they are being recorded. It adds support to improve app efficiency with the ApplicationStartInfo API, APIs for detailed app size information, and new APIs to help you migrate away from the dataSync Foreground Service type. Media refinements include HDR Headroom control, and an API to help you take advantage of audio dynamic range metadata to manage loudness inconsistencies.
Get started today testing your app with Android 15 in the emulator, or by flashing a system image onto a Pixel 6+, Pixel Fold, or Pixel Tablet device.
#TheAndroidShow: the latest from MWC, Gemini Nano, Android 15 and more! 📹
In our quarterly show for Android developers, we unpack the latest Android foldables and large screens coming out of Mobile World Congress ’24 and how to build for these devices leveraging the Wear OS and Large Screen galleries. We learned that Generative AI with Gemini Nano and AICore has reduced latency and robust capability despite its small size. App developers shared their amazing work too. Adidas showed they built features up to 30% faster with Jetpack Compose, TikTok users log in up to 30x faster with Passkeys, and Infinite Painter saw decreased drawing latency using Jetpack Graphic Core and Motion Prediction Library.
Google I/O is arriving this year on May 14th
Google I/O is arriving this year on May 14th and you’re invited to join us online! I/O offers something for everyone, whether you are developing a new application or modernizing an existing one.
Videos💡
We released developer guidance for Google Play Protect enhanced fraud protections to explain a new pilot program to block fraudulent apps and offer resources to developers to avoid getting their apps blocked.
Android Developers Blog 📝
Meta created an Android OS Readiness Program to accelerate their apps’ targetSDK adoption to within 1 or 2 months of the AOSP release. Terrance covered Meta’s journey working with the Android betas including, testing apps early, utilizing latest tools like the SDK Upgrade Assistant and the Compatibility Framework Tool.
Wear OS introduced a new lightweight Text to Speech engine, and Ouiam covered how to use it to help with accessibility services, coaching cues for exercise apps, navigation cues, and reading aloud incoming alerts through the watch speaker or Bluetooth connected headphones.
Android 14 QPR2 added app screen sharing, so users no longer have to broadcast their entire screen while screen sharing or casting. Francesco covered how Google Meet uses this with the MediaProjection APIs to protect users from sharing private information on the screen — like messages and notifications — while screen sharing.
Geoffrey covered the Fused Orientation Provider (FOP), a new API in Google Play services that provides quality and consistent device orientation by fusing signals from accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer.
AndroidX Releases 🚀
AndroidX libraries are moving to a default minimum supported Android API level 21 (previously 19) starting with releases in April, 2024. If you are currently supporting a lower minSdkVersion, we recommend bumping up to 21 and cleaning up any code to support prior versions.
There were many new AndroidX Releases including:
- Browser 1.8.0 is stable and allows you to further customize your custom tabs.
- Compose Material 1.7.0-alpha04 allows you to use bottom sheets in Navigation Compose with the androidx.compose:material:material-navigation artifact.
- Compose UI 1.7.0-alpha04 supports stylus handwriting for BasicTextField2 on devices after Android 14.
- Navigation 2.8.0-alpha04 lets you customize the sizeTransform at a destination by destination level to fix issues with resizing content when transitioning between screens.
- Wear Protolayout 1.2.0-alpha01 introduces ProtoLayout Arc to help with right-to-left layouts; APIs to help prevent the primary label, secondary label, and bottom chip from going offscreen; and a CircularProgressIndicator for smaller components.
Now then… 👋
That’s it for this week with Android 15 Developer Preview 2, The Android Show, the Google I/O date, the Meta Android OS Readiness Program, Google Play’s enhanced fraud protections, and more.
Check back soon for your next update from the Android developer universe! 💫
