Now in Android #108
Android 15 Beta 3, two Compose case studies, Google AI Studio, Gemini in Android Studio, and lots of stable AndroidX releases.
Welcome to episode 108 of Now in Android: your ongoing guide to what’s new and notable in the world of Android development.
In this episode, we’ll cover Android 15 Beta 3, two Compose case studies, Google AI Studio, Gemini in Android Studio, and lots of stable AndroidX releases.
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 Third Beta of Android 15 🧑💻
Android 15 Beta 3 is released, taking Android 15 to Platform Stability. This means the developer APIs and all app-facing behaviors are final for you to review. Also, Apps targeting Android 15 can be published in Google Play.
The Beta 3 post highlights how users will be able to sign-into apps that target Android 15 using passkeys in a single step with facial recognition, fingerprint, or screen lock.
The post also covers how the WebSettings DatabaseEnabled getter and setter, which was used for WebSQL inside of a WebView, is deprecated. The World Wide Web Consortium encourages apps needing web databases to instead adopt Web Storage API technologies like IndexedDB.
Android Developers blog 📝
Tomáš discusses how Max implemented UI changes 30% faster with Jetpack Compose by reducing boilerplate code, increasing the re-usability of UI elements, and boosting overall developer productivity.
Chris discusses how the sample Jetcaster app was enhanced to support additional form factors. He emphasizes code sharing while adding support for Tablets, Desktops, Foldables, TV, Wear OS, and Widgets.
Robbie highlights several apps from Australia that are improving lives as part of #WeArePlay. One app helps people during natural disasters, another promotes wellbeing through houseplants.
Paris wrote about successful experiments with Android development in Google AI Studio involving turning designs into code, fixing UI, and prompting to add new features.
Android Developers Backstage🎙️
On episode 207: “AI development assistance”, Tor and Romain invite Kathy from Google’s AI Developer Assistance team to discuss integrating Gemini in Android Studio. You’ll hear inside information about fine-tuning the model for Android, along with how Gemini retrieves information from the internet that is not in the training data to supplement its capabilities. They also discuss future AI possibilities, like providing personalization based off of the users codebase and writing edge test cases.
Listen to it in podcast or video format.
Videos💡
Nick recaps the top three I/O announcements from Google Play including enhanced store listings, expanded payment options, and SDK Console improvements.
At Google I/O Yigit advises developers to start experimenting with Kotlin Multiplatform.
And Zarah shares why they are excited for shared element transitions and screenshot testing.
AndroidX Releases 🚀
There were a lot of stable releases.
Glance 1.1.0 adds unit testing support and more components for building foundational UI elements for your homescreen widgets.
Fragment 1.8.0 includes AndroidFragment — an API for embedding Fragments in Compose.
If you’re seeing ‘LocalLifecycleOwner not present’ when using Compose, try upgrading Lifecycle to Lifecycle 2.8.2, which you can use with any version of Compose without workarounds.
Several testing libraries are stable, including Core-ktx 1.6.0, Espresso 3.6.0, Espresso Device 1.0.0, JUnit Extensions 1.2.0, Truth Extensions 1.6.0, Monitor 1.7.0, Orchestrator 1.5.0, Runner 1.6.0, Rules 1.6.0 and Services 1.5.0.
Several other stable releases dropped, including Camera 1.3.4, Compose Animation 1.6.8, Compose Foundation 1.6.8, Compose Material 1.6.8, Compose Runtime 1.6.8, Compose UI 1.6.8, Concurrent 1.2.0, Core-RemoteViews 1.1.0, Games-Controller 2.0.2.
Now then… 👋
That’s it for this week with Android 15 Beta 3, two Compose case studies, Google AI Studio, Gemini in Android Studio, and lots of stable AndroidX releases.
Check back soon for your next update from the Android developer universe! 💫
