Android N Developer Preview – Things to Get Excited About

The next version of Android, after Marshmallow is here! It has been assigned the alphabet, but the sweet delicacy is yet to be zeroed upon. Maybe that’s why only the developers’ preview of the Android N has been released by Google. Here are a few things to be excited about from the slight peek we had.

Developers’ View

The developer preview was made for app developers exclusively to enable them to gear up for the late 2016 release. Google is ensuring the devices and applications support the new features that are foraying on Android with the version N. This version has been released for internal testing and new API releases to be ready when the official version is out.

Disability-friendly

Google foresees that in future many people will be facing some form of disability sooner or later. Hence, it pumped Google with a multitude of disable-friendly features including screen magnification, text size variance, voice access and easy access to all these features.

Android has always had multiple disability features, but with the new version 7.0 it is increasing these features by putting them on the welcome screen and allowing users to independently configure their devices.

Prominent Google apps such as Google Docs allow users to compose complete documents using a speech-to-text feature. Android App developers will have to retain focus on this aspect while updating existing apps for the new system or developing new applications.

Revealed Features

Multi-window: Multi-tasking is the buzzword and with the multi-window support users can open two apps so users can work simultaneously on two windows. This is targeted at enterprises and as a direct response to Apple’s split-screen feature on iOS 9.

Free-form window mode : This is still not official but is expected to be integrated nevertheless. The free-form window mode will allow users to launch multiple apps simultaneously and resize them and move them around the screen. It also supports drag and drop text.

Direct reply notification : With the new update, users can reply to messages in the notification itself, eliminating the need to move to a new window. Google’s Direct Reply notifications will be available for Hangouts and other popular messaging apps.

Tests, Test Scripts, and Test Automation: With the new UI enhancements, UI tests will have to be changed for different Android activities with Android N. UI testing and test scripts will become more complex though notification change may make testing easier as unnecessary notifications can be avoided in test execution.

Know more: Android M- A Glimpse into Its Promising New Features

There are hardly few months left before the next version forays into the market, and we can look forward to some exciting developments and more user-friendly interface.