Google posted a huge surprise by putting up the Android N Developer Preview for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 5 and the Nexus Player. In an age when the latest updates come through leaks and rumours, Google completely took the tech industry by surprise with news of the Android N developer launch. We’ve gone through the list of upgrades and think these features will definitely be to your liking.
Multi-Window Support
Perhaps the most defining feature of the new upgrade is multi-window support. This will allow you to run multiple apps side-by-side in the same view. There isn’t much clarity around the feature but it is expected to work like the split-screen feature that was first introduced in Windows 8.1 by Microsoft. The split will be top to bottom on phone screens until you switch it to Landscape mode where it will be split from left to right. One important feature to note is that apps will have to upgrade to work in the new format.
Notifications Got More Powerful
Android has had issues with the Notifications tab in earlier editions. With Android N, the Notifications tab becomes a whole lot better with the ability to respond to any notification without opening the app. For example, you can reply to text messages with the Direct Reply Feature without opening Messages. There is also something called as Bundled Notifications that groups actions such as Archive or Dismiss together. If you’ve used Inbox before, you’ll know how this works.
Android TV
Android N will likely see the explosion of Android TV as Google adds the ability to record and playback content from Android TVs with new technology. It has also added Picture-in-Picture feature to Android N that will play videos even when you leave an app. You can also choose to stop videos while you respond to an urgent message for example.
Project Svelte
Project Svelte is Google’s attempt to minimise RAM usage by Android and apps on devices. In Android N, Project Svelte will help apps run effectively in the background. “In Android N, we’re removing three commonly-used implicit broadcasts — Connectivity_Action, Action_New_Picture, and Action_New_Video — since those can wake the background processes of multiple apps at once and strain memory and battery,” Google writes on the Android developers page.
Android For Work
Android For Work has been updated with more features in Android N. Users can now set new passwords and fingerprint security to unlock Work apps. There is also a provision to specify certain apps opening only with a company-accessible VPN.
Early Access
With the inclusion of Google Beta, users can directly get the latest update on their phone (on supported devices). No more waiting until Google and your device manufacturer decide to bring you the update!
There are many other significant improvements in Android N but these are the major ones. We still don’t know what the N stands for but Sunder Pichai had earlier hinted that it might be named after an Indian mithai. While most users believe N stands for Nutella, we wonder if it’s actually Nankhatai or Nariyal Peda!
There aren’t many other details but we’ll keep you posted if something new breaks. Meanwhile, let us know what you think of Android N in the comments below.
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