It’s that time of the year when we all start talking about the upcoming versions for Android and iOS. Yes, you got it right! The time has come to discuss Android O, the version of the OS that will be released in Google I/O in May this year. But, before the actual beta version is launched, Google has unveiled the developer’s preview version to have a basic overview of what the new version would be like.
The last beta version for Android 7 would be Android 7.1.2, post which it will be time for the release Android O beta version for developers. Currently, the builds are not ready, which is why it is not suggested to install the preview on your phones. Installing can attract quite a few bugs to your phone, and can mess with it. So, it would be better if you can wait before installing the update.
While the developer preview is available for just a few phones right now, we can always talk about what to expect in Android App Development. Here are the few things that we believe will be new and unique to Android O, which you can leverage. Nothing has been finalized as yet, and we will need to wait for Google to officially announce but, here’s our take.
Will support PIP
Wondering what is PIP? Picture-in-picture is the concept that was introduced with Android N but, that was specifically for the Android TV boxes. With Android O, this will be introduced to the phones and tablets, which means you can watch or view other windows without disturbing the one on which you are working.
To enable this, developers may need to add support factors. You will need to define the aspect ratio and introduce custom controls for the benefit. This is just something we believe will come with the new version but, we don’t know who it will work or, how developers can harness this theme.
Better notifications control
The notifications will further with Android O. There will be new themes introduced to make it better. The new version will have bundled notifications, which in turn will allow the developers to have better control over their notifications, and channelize them properly. You can even control what the app sends out as notification. Grouped notifications, as well as smarter display order, will also be seen with the new version. Cross-device sync will also be made possible with this new version.
You can now snooze the notifications, which means they will disappear for a while only to reappear. So, if you don’t want to dismiss notifications completely, you have this option.
Limit the background processes
The background processes can make your phone sadly slow, which can even hamper the performance of the apps. The need to kill your background processes led to the inclusion of doze, which was introduced with Android 7.
Android O automatically limits the sessions for the apps, ensuring they don’t update too much, which will reduce their impact on your phone’s battery life. The idea is to keep the app in the background and allow it to do what it wants, without reducing your phone’s battery life.
Miscellaneous Updates
Along with these major tweaks, you have some smaller yet very visible tweaks coming along your way too. One of it is the Neighbor Awareness Networking, which will allow devices to search and look for each other and form the bridge without the need for an AP. You can send data at high speed between the devices connected. You get support for low-power mode as well in this case. You get Audio API for the high-performance and low-latency audio.
Concluding with
The developer’s preview will be available for Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Pixel C or Pixel XL. Currently, no beta program is available. By fall 2017, we would have received a full version of the Android O operating system for a developer to start working with Android App Development Services.
These are just speculations based on the preview; only the Google I/O can tell anything about the actual version of the app. We will have to wait till May at least. We will be sharing updates as and when we receive them.
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