We launched the second Developer Preview of Android 16, forward of the deliberate launch in Q2 of 2025. Android 16 introduces main and minor API releases to permit us to drive sooner innovation with extra frequent API releases. We’re planning each a significant and minor API launch in 2025, and solely the Q2 main launch will embrace app-impacting deliberate conduct modifications; the minor launch introduces new options with out these modifications, so you’ll be able to focus your app testing on main releases.
This developer preview focuses on efficiency optimization, developer instruments, haptic suggestions enhancements, activity administration, adaptive refresh fee enhancements and extra.
Android 16 Developer Preview 2 introduces System Triggered Profiling to assist builders gather profiling information throughout essential situations like app startups or ANR occasions. It improves developer instruments with enhanced job introspection, permitting apps to determine a number of explanation why jobs are pending and debug activity scheduling extra successfully. Haptic suggestions enhancements embrace new APIs to outline detailed amplitude and frequency curves for extra nuanced tactile responses throughout gadgets.
Moreover, adaptive refresh fee enhancements refine app conduct on gadgets with variable refresh charges, optimizing efficiency and decreasing energy consumption. Predictive again additions embrace new APIs to assist play corresponding ahead-of-time animations when the again gesture is invoked.
Get began in the present day by testing your app with Android 16 within the emulator or by flashing a system picture onto a Pixel gadget.
We launched the Developer Preview of the Android XR SDK, a toolkit to create immersive prolonged actuality (XR) experiences on Android.
The SDK helps builders:
- Spatialize Purposes: Add 3D parts, spatial panels, and spatial audio.
- Construct Immersive Environments: Create digital or augmented areas.
- Allow Pure Interactions: Assist hand and eye monitoring for intuitive engagement.
- It consists of Jetpack XR SDK for Compose and Materials Design in XR, Unity Integration for real-time 3D growth, WebXR for immersive net experiences, and OpenXR 1.1 for native C/C++ growth. The Play Retailer can even assist XR apps, with current apps spatialized robotically.
At XR Unlocked ’24, we shared learn how to design intuitive and interesting apps for Android XR. We lined XR design rules, concerns, and sensible approaches to interplay and UI that leverage the distinctive capabilities of the platform and enable you to elevate your app’s design.
Then, Ryan, Spencer, Tricia, and Luke mentioned learn how to construct immersive experiences with Open XR and Unity by constructing on prime of supporting trade requirements and instruments acquainted to XR builders. They explored OpenXR APIs, our partnership with Unity, and the experimental launch of Unity for Android XR, together with options and roadmap.
Moreover, in case you questioned learn how to adapt current Android apps for Android XR gadgets, Yasmine, Patrick, and Stevan lined new instruments and assets obtainable. You can begin constructing with the Android XR SDK and see your modifications come to life within the Android XR Emulator inside Android Studio. Additionally, you’ll be able to discover ways to use what you already know to ship nice experiences to your customers.
The week of January seventh is a Highlight Week on Android Digicam and Media, providing assets that can assist you uplevel the media experiences in your app. Try this weblog submit for every little thing that we lined throughout the week!
Tuesday targeted on the newest releases in CameraX and Media3, together with steering on constructing digital camera apps with Compose.
Wednesday emphasised creating premium consumer experiences, equivalent to using the Media Efficiency Class and enabling HDR video seize. We featured Google Drive’s implementation of Extremely HDR photos and Instagram’s enhancement of in-app picture seize with Evening Mode.
Thursday addressed adapting digital camera and media apps for giant screens and the brand new Android XR platform, overlaying media experiences on massive gadgets, implementing tabletop mode for digital camera functions, and making ready apps for XR with concerns for spatial audio and video.
Friday delved into media creation, exploring Media3’s Transformer module for media processing, showcasing the 1 Second On a regular basis app, and introducing a brand new API for capturing concurrent digital camera streams. Android GDE Tom Colvin additionally shared how he constructed a hand gesture recognizer app with CameraX and MediaPipe.
Ben Weiss collaborated with Reddit to discover how they leveraged Baseline Profiles, the R8 compiler, and Jetpack Compose to scale back startup instances, improve rendering efficiency, optimize bytecode, and modernize legacy UI, enhancing each consumer and developer experiences.
Scott Nien showcased the expanded HDR capabilities, preview stabilization, and versatile results framework in CameraX 1.4.0. He additionally demonstrated learn how to seamlessly combine CameraX with Jetpack Compose, empowering builders to leverage Android’s digital camera capabilities for creating distinctive app experiences.
Donovan McMurray detailed how Instagram improved its Android app with Evening Mode, enabling customers to seize higher-quality photographs in low-light settings. This function leverages Android’s Digicam Extensions API to faucet into device-specific capabilities, making certain a constant and scalable expertise throughout gadgets.
Jolanda Verhoef demonstrated learn how to combine the camera-compose APIs into your app, showcasing the pleasant UI experiences they allow. In Half 1, she lined constructing a fundamental digital camera preview utilizing the brand new camera-compose artifact, together with permission dealing with and fundamental integration. In Half 2, she carried out a visible tap-to-focus function utilizing the Compose gesture system, graphics, and coroutines.
Nevin Mital demonstrated how Google Maps leveraged MPC to roll out a UI transparency function solely to higher-performing gadgets and supplied steering on implementing MPC in your apps with the Core Efficiency library.
Yacine Rezgui walked you thru the important steps to organize your apps for 16 KB web page dimension gadgets, unlocking efficiency enhancements, enabling future improvements, and delivering smoother, extra immersive app experiences to customers.
Steven Jenkins introduced the secure launch of Android Studio’s Ladybug Function Drop, introducing 5 Gemini in Android Studio options, Animation Preview assist for Put on Tiles, and an App Hyperlinks Assistant to simplify app growth. These enhancements are designed to enhance developer productiveness and assist the creation of high-quality Android functions.
There have been numerous alpha releases.
That will help you construct for Android XR, now we have added:
For Digicam and Media, now we have added:
Transition Model 1.6.0-alpha01 units the disjoint dad or mum for ViewOverlays used to animate its transitions.
Television-Materials 1.1.0-alpha01 modifications FocusEnterExitScope.cancelFocus() to cancelFocusChange() and replaces FocusProperties.enter and FocusProperties.exit with onEnter and onExit.
Don’t fret, there’s stability — there have been additionally some secure releases.
AndroidX Core 1.16.0-alpha01 has a repair for inset dispatching for Views.
ViewPager 1.1.0 is secure and provides assist for Android 12 stretch over scroll edge impact and nullability annotations in ViewPager.
Exercise 1.10.0 is secure and provides a brand new LocalActivity composition native that gives the Exercise for the present scope and PhotoPicker permits choosing photos so as and selecting which tab ought to be initially seen.
RecyclerView 1.4.0 is secure and has Adaptive refresh fee assist.
That’s it for this week, with the Second Developer Preview of Android 16, Android XR, the Highlight Week on Android Digicam and Media, the Android Studio Ladybug Function Drop and extra!
Test again quickly to your subsequent replace from the Android developer universe! 💫
