Android just released the first developer preview for its upcoming OS: Android O. The news comes from the Android Developers blog and it promises to reveal a number of new features. The first version of Android launched back in 2008, end ever since it managed to gain a large number of fans. As a matter of fact, the majority of smartphone users now rely on this operating system on a daily basis. Over the past years, we’ve seen a ton of new useful features and the O will probably also impress us. This is the first developer preview, so the software will most likely go through serious changes before the final version will launch.
One of the most anticipated features of the new software is the improvement of battery life. The Android O comes with additional background limits. This means that it better controls what different apps can do in the background. This limitation is set in three major areas: implicit broadcasts, background services, and location updates. Thanks to these changes, it will be easier for developers to deliver apps that don’t have an upsetting effect on the device’s battery life. The notification channels will also go through some changes. These new channels are app-defined and allow developers to provide users a better control over the notifications they receive. This way, users can change the settings for each channel individually, instead of managing the whole notifications section.
Android O will also feature new APIs that implement an Autofill service. Thanks to these, users will be able to use autofill apps that will store and secure user data. This way, it will be a lot easier for users to manage their different accounts, without the need to fill in their addresses, user names, and passwords every time. Smartphone users had the possibility of saving their password before, but with the new software, this process will become even easier and more secure. New windowing features are also in the cards. Besides the Picture in Picture display that is already present on handsets and tablets, the O will also offer a new app overlay window and multi-display support.
According to the developers of the new Android software, the o will offer new font resources in XML. Apps will now be able to use fonts and define font families in XML. Those who would like to create their own adaptive icons can now do it. The O allows developers and users to create new icons based on a mask selected by the device. It also animates interactions with the icons, making them a lot cooler than before. Visual and audio features of the apps will be enhanced as well due to the ability to display wide-gamut images and the AAudio API for Pro Audio. Even the keyboard navigation got its fair share of attention. In order to provide better user experience, the Android team built a new, more reliable, predictable model for “arrow” and “tab” navigation.
Other changes in the software come into the connectivity section. The Android O supports not only high-quality Bluetooth audio codecs but new Wi-Fi features as well. Of course, the list of new features doesn’t stop here. The aforementioned ones are only the most obvious changes in the software. It is the first developer preview, so a lot of innovative features will be added. The Android O will most likely launch sometime in the fall. There still is a lot of time to come up with new and interesting things to impress users. Some of the features will require appropriate hardware too. This way, the software won’t work the same on every device.
The first developer preview, as its name suggest, is only for developers. Customers will get to try out the new software later, at a closer date to the official launch. Until then, developers have the time to report any bugs and issues they find in the new software, so the team can correct them. After all, no one would like to get a faulty software and risk damaging their smartphones.
Source: Android Developers
