Latest Features of Android N Developer Preview

Android N Developer Preview, an early beta of Google’s new mobile operating system that was expected to launch on Google I/O in mid of 2016, is unexpectedly launching right now. Android N Developer Preview for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Pixel C, Nexus 9, The Nexus Player and The General Mobile 4G, an Android One device has been made available as an over-the-air update by Google on Wednesday.

So, if you're having any of these handsets you can test out Android N Developer Preview on your smartphone and tablet right now from here.

Some of the big changes have been aimed in Android N Developer Preview. Let's have a look on it : 

1. Multi-Window Support 

Android N adds support for displaying more than one app at the same time. On handheld devices, two apps can run side-by-side or one-above-the-other in split-screen mode. On TV devices, apps can use picture-in-picture mode to continue video playback while users are interacting with another app.

So now it is made easy to type out a message while viewing a map, check the weather while watching videos, and so on. The screen can be split horizontally or vertically as the user prefer.

Picture-in-Picture Mode

Now the user can view a YouTube video while reading through a report in Word on your Android device, thanks to Picture-in-picture feature in Android N.

Google describes that, "Picture-in-picture (PIP) mode lets apps run a video activity in the pinned window while another activity continues in the background. The PIP window lets users multitask while using your app, which helps users be more productive"

2. Better Battery Life

With Android Marshmallow, Google introduced a new battery-saving feature called Doze that places an Android device into a deep power-savings mode when it is stationary for a while.

In Android N, Google is taking this feature a step further by allowing Doze to work whenever the screen is OFF, not just when the device is stationary. So that the smartphone’s battery will last even longer when it’s in standby mode.

3. Data Saver

 Over the life of a smartphone, the cost of a cellular data plan can easily exceed the cost of the device itself. In the N Developer Preview, users can enable Data Saver on a device-wide basis in order to use less data, whether roaming, near the end of the billing cycle, or on a small prepaid data pack.

When a user enables Data Saver in Settings and the device is on a metered network, the system blocks background data usage and signals apps to use less data in the foreground wherever possible. Users can whitelist specific apps to allow background metered data usage even when Data Saver is turned on. It is considered good practice for apps to check whether the user has enabled Data Saver and make an effort to limit foreground and background data usage.

4. Direct Boot 

Android N runs in a secure, Direct Boot mode when the device has been powered on but the user has not unlocked the device. To support this, the system provides two storage locations for data:

• Credential encrypted storage, which is the default storage location and only available after the user has unlocked the device.
• Device encrypted storage, which is a storage location available both during Direct Boot mode and after the user has unlocked the device.

That means you do not need to flash your device to a PC to download and install the new Android N Developer Preview, as it can be downloaded straight to your device.

5. Notifiations 

Android N introduces several new APIs that allow apps to post notifications that are highly visible and interactive

• Android N extends the existing RemoteInput notification API to support inline replies on handsets. This feature allows users to quickly respond from the notification shade without visiting your app.

• Android N provides developers with a new way to represent a queue of notifications: bundled notifications. This is similar to the Notification Stacks feature in Android Wear. For example, if your app creates notifications for received messages, when more than one message is received, bundle the notifications together as a single group. 
• Starting from Android N, you can customize notification views and still obtain system decorations like notification headers, actions, and expandable layouts.

6. Background Optimizations 

Background processes can be memory- and battery-intensive. For example, an implicit broadcast may start many background processes that have registered to listen for it, even if those processes may not do much work. This can have a substantial impact on both device performance and user experience.

7. Language and Locale 

Android N provides enhanced support for multilingual users, allowing them to select multiple locales in settings. Android N provides this capability by greatly expanding the number of locales supported and changing the way the system resolves resources. The new method of resolving resources is more robust and designed to be compatible with existing APKs, but you should take extra care to spot any unexpected behavior. For example, you should test to make sure that your app defaults to the expected language. Also, if your app supports multiple languages, you should ensure that this support works as intended. Finally, you should try to ensure that your app gracefully handles languages that you didn't explicitly design it to support.

8. Scooped Directory Access

Apps such as photo apps usually just need access to specific directories in external storage, such as the Picturesdirectory. Existing approaches to accessing external storage aren't designed to easily provide targeted directory access for these types of apps. For example:

• Requesting READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE orWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE in your manifest allows access to all public directories on external storage, which might be more access than what your app needs.
• Using the Storage Access Framework usually makes your user pick directories via a system UI, which is unnecessary if your app always accesses the same external directory.

Android N provides a new simplified API to access common external storage directories.

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These are the things that are now known to us about the all new Android N Developer Preview.

Hey guys, Google is asking to give Android N a name so what name will you suggest for Android N???

Comment me the name in the comment box :)