Google ha dato in pasto alla comunità degli sviluppatori e agli appassionati la quarta versione preliminare (Developer Preview) di Android N. L'aggiornamento è stato rilasciato sia in forma di distribuzione OTA sui terminali compatibili di coloro che partecipano al programma di beta testing, che tramite le 'factory image' scaricabili dal
sito ufficiale.
Fra le novità della quarta Developer Preview di Android N (build NPD56N) emerse finora si segnala l'eliminazione delle API di Launcher Shortcuts, l'introduzione di vincoli nella frequenza di scansione dei dispositivi Bluetooth LE esterni e la modifica del nome delle API relative alla funzionalità MultiWindow.
Google ha abilitato inoltre in Android N un 'easter egg' (a cui si può accedere cliccando il logo Android) nella schermata delle informazioni generali che pubblica la scritta NameyMcNameface. Si tratta di un richiamo alla battuta emersa durante la Google I/O sulla celebre imbarcazione Boaty McBoatface, non il nome destinato a contraddistinguere il sistema operativo.
Android N APIs are now final, get your apps ready for Android N!
Posted by Dave Burke, VP of Engineering
As we put the finishing touches on the next release of Android, which will begin to roll out to consumers later this summer, we're releasing the 4th Developer Preview of Android N, including the Android N final SDK. And thanks to your continued feedback over the last three releases, all of the APIs are now final as well. If you've already enrolled your device in the Android Beta Program, (available at android.com/beta) you will receive an update to this Developer Preview shortly.
Get your apps ready for Android N
The final SDK for Android N is now available for download through the SDK Manager in Android Studio. It gives you everything you need to develop and test against the official APIs in the Android N platform. Once you've installed the final SDK, you can update your project's compileSdkVersion to API 24 to develop with the Android N APIs and build and test on the new platform, for new features such as Multi-window support, direct-reply notifications, and others. We also recommend updating your app's targetSdkVersion to API 24 to opt-in and test your app with Android N specific behavior changes. For details on how to setup your app with the final SDK, see Set up the Preview. For details on API level 24 check out the API diffs and the updated API reference, now hosted online.
Along with the Android N final SDK, we've also updated the Android Support Library to 24.0.0. This allows you to use multi-window and picture-in-picture callbacks, new notification features, methods for supporting Direct Boot, and new MediaBrowser APIs in a backward compatible manner.
Publish your apps to alpha, beta or production channels in Google Play
Now that you have a final set of APIs, you can publish updates compiling with, and optionally targeting, API 24 to Google Play. You can now publish app updates that use API 24 to your alpha, beta, or even production channels in the Google Play Developer Console. In this way, you can test your app's backward-compatibility and push updates to users whose devices are running Developer Preview 4.
To make sure that your updated app runs well on Android N, as well as older versions, a common strategy is to use Google Play's beta testing feature to get early feedback from a small group of users -- including developer preview users — and then do a staged rollout as you release the updated app to all users.