Now in Android #91
Jetpack Glance released to stable, Android 14 QPR, Google Play policy and console updates, updated Play Store Listing Certificate course with video study guide and an end of summer wrapup!
Now in Android is your ongoing guide to what’s new and notable in the world of Android development.
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.)
Jetpack Glance released to stable 👀
Jetpack Glance has been released to stable. Built on top of the Jetpack Compose runtime, Glance allows you to use familiar Jetpack Compose-style composables to help you build responsive widgets for the home screen quickly and with less code.
Glance sits on top of RemoteViews, so it inherits all of RemoteViews’ limitations. This also means that it’s not directly interoperable with other existing Jetpack Compose UI elements. To make it easier to create interactive app widgets, Glance supports wrapping user interactions into Lambda functions or ActionCallbacks that can seamlessly call your app code. (Glance can also send PendingIntents to start Services, Activities, and BroadcastReceivers)
Android 14 QPR Coming Soon ♩
The final Android 14 Beta 5.3 patch was released last week, and this week kicks off with the Android 14 QPR1 Beta 1, which builds on top of the Android 14 platform release and includes the latest bug fixes and improvements to stability and performance. If you take no action and remain enrolled in the Beta Program, you will automatically receive Android 14 QPR1 Beta 1 on enrolled supported Pixel devices the week of the 18th, and will not receive the final stable public Android 14 release. Head over to the link for instructions on how to receive the final stable public Android 14 release without wiping your device.
Notes from Google Play: Keeping our Platform Safe ▶️🔒
Google Play shared their latest updates to the App content page in Google Play Console, making it easier to spot deadlines for new and updated declarations, understand why your app is in-scope for a particular declaration and find relevant policy issues alongside each declaration, helping you identify and fix issues more quickly. A new notice on Google Play SDK Index can help you make more informed decisions about which version of a third-party SDK may cause your app to violate Google Play policies, and, later this year, this information will appear on the Policy status page. The Policy status page will also indicate if your app is impacted by our Target API requirements. The new Developer Help Community and the Google Play Strike Removal program are two other ways in which Play is helping you understand and comply with Play Policies.
If you haven’t completed your updated Data safety form yet, watch this two-minute video to learn how before the December 7, 2023 deadline. Users will begin to see your new information in your store listing in early 2024.
A new Play Store banner for the VPN app category is being added to emphasize the importance of reviewing an app’s Data safety section before installing. Play encourages VPN app developers to undergo independent security testing, bringing more transparency to users. Users can learn more about the independent security validation process and see VPN apps that have been independently validated by tapping “Learn more” to go to the App Validation Directory.
Efforts like the new developer verification process for new Play Console accounts will give users even more confidence in the quality and security of the apps and games they download.
Play Store Listing Certificate course is updated with a new study guide ▶️📖
Google Play released a major update to the Play Store Listing Certificate course along with a video study guide series to help you prepare for the exam. The course is a self-paced training that covers all the latest Custom Store Listing and Store Listing Experiment features, along with real-world examples showing how you might use them to drive user growth.
End of Summer Wrapup ☀️🌯
With Fall rapidly approaching, here’s a recap of some of the top updates since Google I/O back in May.
First of all, the Pixel Fold and tablets launched, and we released a guide to help get your apps ready.
Android Studio Giraffe went to stable, which introduced Compose animation previews, the stable release of Live Edit for Compose, a new Device Explorer, and much more.
We released the Media Developer Center, a new hub for documentation on Android media use cases and the place to find information to create best-in-class multidevice apps.
We closed out the Android 14 beta program with the beta 5 release and one last post to help you get your apps ready.
And Compose for Wear OS and the Tiles 1.2 libraries were released to stable, so you can leverage your Compose knowledge to bring apps to WearOS.
Now then… 👋
That’s it for this time with Jetpack Glance being released to stable, the Android 14 QPR, a recap of some of the summer’s top Android dev hits, Google Play policy and console updates, and the new video study guide series along with an updated Play Store Listing Certificate course.
Come back here soon for the next update from the Android developer universe! 💫
