In a change from its usual strategy of launching two phones twice a year, it seems that this time around we will only see a OnePlus 8T announced, with the Pro model being jettisoned. The move comes as OnePlus tries to reconnect with its fans and return to what made its reputation - great hardware […]

Come comment on this article: It looks like the OnePlus 8T will launch on October 14th

18 Sep 2020 8:59pm GMT

We've been hearing good things about Samsung's soon-to-be-released Galaxy S20 FE, a phone that is more intriguing with every single leak, of which there have been a ton. From spec sheets to images of the phone being handled in the wild to retail listings, the Galaxy S20 FE is all but official already ahead of […]

Come comment on this article: Everything you need to know about Samsung's Galaxy S20 FE ahead of its September 23rd launch

18 Sep 2020 7:39pm GMT

As per the Executive Order signed by the US President on August 6th, September 20th will see the TikTok and WeChat apps banned from app stores in the United States. The move will prevent users from downloading or updating the two apps from Google's and Apple's respective app stores from Sunday onwards. According to the […]

Come comment on this article: The US ban on TikTok and WeChat from app stores begins September 20th

18 Sep 2020 2:18pm GMT

It only launched on August 5th but Samsung's top-specced flagship, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G with 512GB storage is now available with a $400 discount on Amazon. The Mystic Black Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G is down from $1449 to a reasonable $1049 for the time being, and is sold and fulfilled by Amazon […]

Come comment on this article: [Deal] Samsung's Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G (512GB) is down to $1050 on Amazon right now

17 Sep 2020 7:14pm GMT

Earbuds are great until you step off the underground tube and one falls out of your ear on to the tracks where it's pretty much lost forever. You are then faced with the choice of soldiering on with a single earbud, buying the same set in its entirety, or perhaps switching to a different brand […]

Come comment on this article: You can now buy individual TicPods ANC earbuds and charger cases from Mobvoi

17 Sep 2020 5:34pm GMT

Carrying on the week of tech launches is Sony with its latest flagship, the Xperia 5 II that sports a Snapdragon 865 processor and the tall 21:9 aspect ratio that the brand is known for in recent times. 5G is present, as is a notchless 120Hz OLED display, and a trio of rear cameras. The […]

Come comment on this article: Sony's Xperia 5 II is official a 120Hz OLED display, 4,000mAh battery, and 5G everywhere except the US

17 Sep 2020 5:03pm GMT

People love ads, right? Well, no, not really. From YouTube to websites to television and apps on your smartphone, ads are an obtrusive menace that many of us try to avoid by paying subscriptions or buying apps and even adblocking services. Despite this, AT&T may begin offering wireless phone plans that are at least partly […]

Come comment on this article: Would you consider a cellphone plan subsidized by adverts? AT&T thinks you might

17 Sep 2020 2:41pm GMT

Qualcomm lost 3% of global smartphone chip market share in Q2 2020 in a difficult market, which fell by 26%, according to the latest market share data. The report, by Counterpoint Research, explained that the main reason for the decline in smartphone chips is because of sharply reduced smartphone sales, due to the global pandemic. […]

Come comment on this article: Qualcomm lost 3% of global smartphone chip market share in Q2 2020, against a backdrop of falling sales

16 Sep 2020 8:47pm GMT

We are busy wrapping up the review of the surprisingly good European OnePlus Nord that is equipped with a Snapdragon 765G processor and a 90Hz AMOLED display, and now there is news about the US variant of the phone. Long story short, the US version looks to offer a lot of value for a sub-$400 […]

Come comment on this article: US version of OnePlus Nord will reportedly sport a Snapdragon 690 processor, 5G, and a sub-$400 price tag

16 Sep 2020 7:59pm GMT

Samsung announced during the Unpacked event on August 5th that it is committing to providing 3 OS upgrades to its flagship smartphones stretching back to the Galaxy S10, and now the brand has opened up the developer beta program for its One UI 3.0. Based on Android 11, the beta program is for developers with […]

Come comment on this article: [Updated with changelog] Samsung's One UI 3.0/Android 11 developer beta program for the Galaxy S20 is live

16 Sep 2020 7:00pm GMT

There's no need to panic if you don't have enough space to put a big-screen television, Anker has you covered with its Nebula Capsule Smart Mini Projector that can cast a 100-inch image. What's more, you don't need to attach a media streaming device either because the Nebula Capsule boasts built-in smart features that let […]

Come comment on this article: [Deal] Save $50 on the Nebula Capsule Smart Mini Projector from Anker

16 Sep 2020 5:27pm GMT

Microsoft's Project xCloud is official with a rebranding to Xbox Cloud Gaming which sounds just a tad on the clunky side. That is not something that can be said for the product's launch line-up of gaming titles nor the sheer value for money that the Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service offers in conjunction with the […]

Come comment on this article: These are all the gaming titles available on Microsoft's xCloud gaming service

15 Sep 2020 6:53pm GMT

When Microsoft first announced that its Project xCloud would launch on Android phones and tablets on September 15th, I posed the question that debuting with over 100 titles would represent a clear and present danger to Google's Stadia streaming service. Now that the day has come, and 'Xbox Cloud Gaming' has actually got more than […]

Come comment on this article: Microsoft's xCloud has officially launched with over 150 titles for Android gamers

15 Sep 2020 5:50pm GMT

TikTok has gained popularity and seemingly notoriety in recent months with the US government using it as a new weapon in its trade war with China. While it seems that Oracle is set to do a deal with TikTok so that it can continue operating in the US, Google has taken the opportunity to launch […]

Come comment on this article: Google takes on TikTok with YouTube Shorts

15 Sep 2020 5:08pm GMT

Known in Europe as the awkwardly named Moto g 5G Plus, the Motorola One 5G was announced in the US sporting exactly the same hardware, but with an infinitely better model name. Both AT&T and Verizon are set to stock the handset which is due to go on sale at the former on September 18th […]

Come comment on this article: The Motorola One 5G goes on sale at AT&T for $445 from September 18th

15 Sep 2020 3:57pm GMT

Posted by Jay Kong, Gaming and Graphics Product Manager

With the rollout of Android 11 on Pixel, Android GPU Inspector (AGI) has graduated from a limited developer preview to an open beta. During the preview, AGI has been helpful in finding performance bottlenecks for developers we've been working with, and we're looking forward to hearing your feedback.

What is Android GPU Inspector?

AGI is a graphics profiling tool that allows you to look into the GPU of Android devices to better understand graphics bottlenecks and optimize the performance of games and apps that leverage 3D graphics APIs. It shows a timeline of events for your running game or app, which includes system activities, high frequency GPU hardware counters, and, if you are using Vulkan, GPU activity information.

What devices can I use it on?

AGI relies on updated firmware and video drivers to get information it needs; the first devices to support it are the Pixel 4 and 4XL running Android 11. While we are working with device manufacturers and SoC vendors to enable more supported devices, the key insight we've learned on our journey is that being able to look into the GPU-even on a single device-creates a lot of value.

Working with Blizzard Entertainment Inc. and NetEase, Inc., AGI helped pinpoint 45% vertex bandwidth savings for the upcoming Diablo Immortal, a dark gothic action RPG game.

Diablo: Immortal

Working with King, AGI helped improve GPU frame time from 11-16ms to a stable 8ms for the upcoming Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!, allowing the game to reduce battery drain and run faster for a smoother experience.

Crash Bandicoot: On The Run

In collaboration with Jam City, AGI helped reduce GPU frametime by 45% on World War Doh: Real Time PvP.

World War Doh: Real Time PvP

Optimization tutorials

Stay tuned for more information on how to use the tool and address common issues we've seen when working with real games. We'll begin by demonstrating using AGI to indicate optimizations to make in your game's textures.

You can also read about this topic on Medium, here.

How do I get started?

You can download AGI here, and the setup instructions are here. AGI is in beta, so there will be issues. Check out the release notes, and let us know if you see any issues here.

To learn about new device support, you can check this page. Stay up to date with AGI and all of our game developer tools by signing up for the games quarterly newsletter.

14 Sep 2020 7:05pm GMT

Posted by Stephanie Cuthbertson, Director, Product Management

Android 11 is here! Today we're pushing the source to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and officially releasing the newest version of Android. We built Android 11 with a focus on three themes: a People-centric approach to communication, Controls to let users quickly get to and control all of their smart devices, and Privacy to give users more ways to control how data on devices is shared. Read more in our Keyword post.

For developers, Android 11 has a ton of new capabilities. You'll want to check out conversation notifications, device and media controls, one-time permissions, enhanced 5G support, IME transitions, and so much more. To help you work and develop faster, we also added new tools like compatibility toggles, ADB incremental installs, app exit reasons API, data access auditing API, Kotlin nullability annotations, and many others. We worked to make Android 11 a great release for you, and we can't wait to see what you'll build!

Watch for official Android 11 coming to a device near you, starting today with Pixel 2, 3, 3a, 4, and 4a devices. To get started, visit the Android 11 developer site.

People, Controls, Privacy

People

Android 11 is people-centric and expressive, reimagining the way we have conversations on our phones, and building an OS that can recognize and prioritize the most important people in our lives. For developers, Android 11 helps you build deeper conversational and personal interactions into your apps.

• Conversation notifications appear in a dedicated section at the top of the shade, with a people-forward design and conversation specific actions, such as opening the conversation as a bubble, creating a conversation shortcut on the home screen, or setting a reminder.
• Bubbles - Bubbles help users keep conversations in view and accessible while multitasking on their devices. Messaging and chat apps should use the Bubbles API on notifications to enable this in Android 11.
• Consolidated keyboard suggestions let Autofill apps and Input Method Editors (IMEs) securely offer users context-specific entities and strings directly in an IME's suggestion strip, where they are most convenient for users.

Bubbles and people-centric conversations.

Controls

Android 11 lets users quickly get to and control all of their smart devices in one space. Developers can use new APIs to help users surface smart devices and control media:

• Device Controls make it faster and easier than ever for users to access and control their connected devices. Now, by simply long pressing the power button, they're able to bring up device controls instantly, and in one place. Apps can use a new API to appear in the controls. More here.
• Media Controls make it quick and convenient for users to switch the output device for their audio or video content, whether it be headphones, speakers or even their TV. More here.

Device controls and media controls.

Privacy

In Android 11, we're giving users even more control and transparency over sensitive permissions and working to keep devices more secure through faster updates.

One-time permission - Now users can give an app access to the device microphone, camera, or location, just for one time. The app can request permissions again the next time the app is used. More here.

One-time permission dialog in Android 11.

Background location - Background location now requires additional steps from the user beyond granting a runtime permission. If your app needs background location, the system will ensure that you first ask for foreground location. You can then broaden your access to background location through a separate permission request, and the system will take the user to Settings to complete the permission grant.

Also note that in February we announced that Google Play developers will need to get approval to access background location in their app to prevent misuse. We're giving developers more time to make changes and won't be enforcing the policy for existing apps until 2021.

Permissions auto-reset - if users haven't used an app for an extended period of time, Android 11 will "auto-reset" all of the runtime permissions associated with the app and notify the user. The app can request the permissions again the next time the app is used. More here.

Scoped storage - We've continued our work to better protect app and user data on external storage, and made further improvements to help developers more easily migrate. More here.

Google Play system updates - Launched last year, Google Play system updates help us expedite updates of core OS components to devices in the Android ecosystem. In Android 11, we more than doubled the number of updatable modules, including 12 new modules that will help improve privacy, security, and consistency for users and developers.

BiometricPrompt API - Developers can now use the BiometricPrompt API to specify the biometric authenticator strength required by their app to unlock or access sensitive parts of the app. For backward compatibility, we've just added these capabilities to the Jetpack Biometric library. We'll share further updates as the work progresses.

Identity Credential API - This will unlock new use cases such as mobile drivers licences, National ID, and Digital ID. We're working with various government agencies and industry partners to make sure that Android 11 is ready for digital-first identity experiences.

You can read about all of the Android 11 privacy features here.

Helpful innovation

Enhanced 5G support - Android 11 includes updated developer support to help you take advantage of the faster speeds and lower latency of 5G networks. You can learn when the user is connected to a 5G network, check whether the connection is metered, and get an estimate of the connection bandwidth. To help you build experiences now for 5G, we've also added 5G support in the Android Emulator. To get started with 5G on Android, visit the 5G developer page.

Moving beyond the home, 5G can for example let you enhance your "on-the-go" experience by providing seamless interactions with the world around you from friends and family to businesses.

New screen types - Device makers are continuing to innovate by bringing exciting new device screens to market, such as hole-punch and waterfall screens. Android 11 adds support for these in the platform, with APIs to let you optimize your apps. You can manage both hole-punch and waterfall screens using the existing display cutout APIs. You can set a new window layout attribute to use the entire waterfall screen, and a new waterfall insets API helps you manage interaction near the edges.

Call screening support - Android 11 helps call-screening apps do more to manage robocalls. Apps can verify an incoming call's STIR/SHAKEN status (standards that protect against caller ID spoofing) as part of the call details, and they can report a call rejection reason. Apps can also customize a system-provided post call screen to let users perform actions such as marking a call as spam or adding to contacts.

Polish and quality

OS resiliency - In Android 11 we've made the OS more dynamic and resilient as a whole by fine-tuning memory reclaiming processes, such as forcing user-imperceptible restarts of processes based on RSS HWM thresholds. Also, to improve performance and memory, Android 11 adds Binder caching, which optimizes highly used IPC calls to system services by caching data for those that retrieve relatively static data. Binder caching also improves battery life by reducing CPU time.

Synchronized IME transitions - New APIs let you synchronize your app's content with the IME (input method editor, or on-screen keyboard) and system bars as they animate on and offscreen, making it much easier to create natural, intuitive and jank-free IME transitions. For frame-perfect transitions, a new WindowInsetsAnimation.Callback API notifies apps of per-frame changes to insets while the system bars or the IME animate. Additionally, you can use a new WindowInsetsAnimationController API to control system UI types like system bars, IME, immersive mode, and others. More here.

HEIF animated drawables - The ImageDecoder API now lets you decode and render image sequence animations stored in HEIF files, so you can make use of high-quality assets while minimizing impact on network data and APK size. HEIF image sequences can offer drastic file-size reductions for image sequences when compared to animated GIFs.

Native image decoder - New NDK APIs let apps decode and encode images (such as JPEG, PNG, WebP) from native code for graphics or post processing, while retaining a smaller APK size since you don't need to bundle an external library. The native decoder also takes advantage of Android's process for ongoing platform security updates. See the NDK sample code for examples of how to use the APIs.

Low-latency video decoding in MediaCodec - Low latency video is critical for real-time video streaming apps and services like Stadia. Video codecs that support low latency playback return the first frame of the stream as quickly as possible after decoding starts. Apps can use new APIs to check and configure low-latency playback for a specific codec.

Variable refresh rate - Apps and games can use a new API to set a preferred frame rate for their windows. Most Android devices refresh the display at 60Hz refresh rate, but some support multiple refresh rates, such as 90Hz as well as 60Hz, with runtime switching. On these devices, the system uses the app's preferred frame rate to choose the best refresh rate for the app. The API is available in both the SDK and NDK. See the details here.

Dynamic resource loader - Android 11 includes a new public API to let apps load resources and assets dynamically at runtime. With the Resource Loader framework you can include a base set of resources in your app or game and then load additional resources, or modify the loaded resources, as needed at runtime.

Neural Networks API (NNAPI) 1.3 - We continue to add ops and controls to support machine learning on Android devices. To optimize common use-cases, NNAPI 1.3 adds APIs for priority and timeout, memory domains, and asynchronous command queue. New ops for advanced models include signed integer asymmetric quantization, branching and loops, and a hard-swish op that helps accelerate next-generation on-device vision models such as MobileNetV3.

Developer friendliness

App compatibility tools - We worked to minimize compatibility impacts on your apps by making most Android 11 behavior changes opt-in, so they won't take effect until you change the apps' targetSdkVersion to 30. If you are distributing through Google Play, you'll have more than a year to opt-in to these changes, but we recommend getting started testing early. To help you test, Android 11 lets you enable or disable many of the opt-in changes individually. More here.

App exit reasons - When your app exits, it's important to understand why the app exited and what the state was at the time -- across the many device types, memory configurations, and user scenarios that your app runs in. Android 11 makes this easier with an exit reasons API that you can use to request details of the app's recent exits.

Data access auditing - data access auditing lets you instrument your app to better understand how it accesses user data and from which user flows. For example, it can help you identify any inadvertent access to private data in your own code or within any SDKs you might be using. More here.

ADB Incremental - Installing very large APKs with ADB (Android Debug Bridge) during development can be slow and impact your productivity, especially those developers working on Android Games. With ADB Incremental in Android 11, installing large APKs (2GB+) from your development computer to an Android 11 device is up to 10x faster. More here.

Kotlin nullability annotations - Android 11 adds nullability annotations to more methods in the public API. And, it upgrades a number of existing annotations from warnings to errors. These help you catch nullability issues at build time, rather than at runtime. More here.

Get your apps ready for Android 11

With Android 11 on its way to users, now is the time to finish your compatibility testing and publish your updates.

Here are some of the top behavior changes to watch for (these apply regardless of your app's targetSdkVersion):

• One-time permission - Users can now grant single-use permission to access location, device microphone and camera. More here.
• External storage access - Apps can no longer access other apps' files in external storage. More here.
• Scudo hardened allocator - Scudo is now the heap memory allocator for native code in apps. More here.
• File descriptor sanitizer - Fdsan is now enabled by default to detect file descriptor handling issues for native code in apps. More here.

Android 11 also includes opt-in behavior changes - these affect your app once it's targeting the new platform. We recommend assessing these changes as soon as you've published the compatible version of your app. For more information on compatibility testing and tools, check out the resources we shared for Android 11 Compatibility week and visit the Android 11 developer site for technical details.

Enhance your app with new features and APIs

Next, when you're ready, dive into Android 11 and learn about the new features and APIs that you can use. Here are some of the top features to get started with.

We recommend these for all apps:

• Dark theme (from Android 10) - Make sure to provide a consistent experience for users who enable system-wide dark theme by adding a Dark theme or enabling Force Dark.
• Gesture navigation (from Android 10) - Support gesture navigation by going edge-to-edge and ensure that custom gestures work well with gestures. More here.
• Sharing shortcuts (from Android 10) - Apps that want to receive shared data should use the sharing shortcuts APIs to create share targets. Apps that want to send shared data should make sure to use the system share sheet.
• Synchronized IME transitions - Provide seamless transitions to your users using the new WindowInsets and related APIs. More here.
• New screen types - for devices with hole-punch or waterfall screens, make sure to test and adjust your content for these screens as needed. More here.

We recommend these if relevant for your app:

• Conversations - Messaging and communication apps can participate in the conversation experience by providing long-lived sharing shortcuts and surfacing conversations in notifications. More here.
• Bubbles - Bubbles are a way to keep conversations in view and accessible while multitasking. Use the Bubbles API on notifications to enable this.
• 5G - If your app or content can benefit from the faster speeds and lower latency of 5G, explore our developer resources to see what you can build.
• Device controls - If your app supports external smart devices, make sure those devices are accessible from the new Android 11 device controls area. More here.
• Media controls - For media apps, we recommend supporting the Android 11 media controls so users can manage playback and resumption from the Quick Settings shade. More here.

Read more about all of the Android 11 features at developer.android.com/11.

Coming to a device near you!

Android 11 will begin rolling out today on select Pixel, OnePlus, Xiaomi, OPPO and realme phones, with more partners launching and upgrading devices over the coming months. If you have a Pixel 2, 3, 3a, 4, or 4a phone, including those enrolled in this year's Beta program, watch for the over-the-air update arriving soon!

Android 11 factory system images for Pixel devices are also available through the Android Flash Tool, or you can download them here. As always, you can get the latest Android Emulator system images via the SDK Manager in Android Studio. For broader testing on other Treble-compliant devices, Generic System Images (GSI) are available here.

If you're looking for the Android 11 source code, you'll find it here in the Android Open Source Project repository under the Android 11 branches.

What's next?

We'll soon be closing the preview issue tracker and retiring open bugs logged against Developer Preview or Beta builds, but please keep the feedback coming! If you still see an issue that you filed in the preview tracker, just file a new issue against Android 11 in the AOSP issue tracker.

Thanks again to the many developers and early adopters who participated in the preview program this year! You gave us great feedback to help shape the release, and you filed thousands of issues that have made Android 11 a better platform for everyone.

We're looking forward to seeing your apps on Android 11!

08 Sep 2020 5:03pm GMT

Posted by Florina Muntenescu, Android Developer Advocate, Rohit Sathyanarayana, Software Engineer

Welcome Jetpack DataStore, now in alpha - a new and improved data storage solution aimed at replacing SharedPreferences. Built on Kotlin coroutines and Flow, DataStore provides two different implementations: Proto DataStore, that lets you store typed objects (backed by protocol buffers) and Preferences DataStore, that stores key-value pairs. Data is stored asynchronously, consistently, and transactionally, overcoming most of the drawbacks of SharedPreferences.

SharedPreferences vs DataStore

* SharedPreferences has a synchronous API that can appear safe to call on the UI thread, but which actually does disk I/O operations. Furthermore, apply() blocks the UI thread on fsync(). Pending fsync() calls are triggered every time any service starts or stops, and every time an activity starts or stops anywhere in your application. The UI thread is blocked on pending fsync() calls scheduled by apply(), often becoming a source of ANRs.

** SharedPreferences throws parsing errors as runtime exceptions.

In both implementations, DataStore saves the preferences in a file and performs all data operations on Dispatchers.IO unless specified otherwise.

While both Preferences DataStore and Proto DataStore allow saving data, they do this in different ways:

• Preference DataStore, like SharedPreferences, has no way to define a schema or to ensure that keys are accessed with the correct type.
• Proto DataStore lets you define a schema using Protocol buffers. Using Protobufs allows persisting strongly typed data. They are faster, smaller, simpler, and less ambiguous than XML and other similar data formats. While Proto DataStore requires you to learn a new serialization mechanism, we believe that the strongly typed schema advantage brought by Proto DataStore is worth it.

Room vs DataStore

If you have a need for partial updates, referential integrity, or support for large/complex datasets, you should consider using Room instead of DataStore. DataStore is ideal for small , simple datasets and does not support partial updates or referential integrity.

Using DataStore

Start by adding the DataStore dependency. If you're using Proto DataStore, make sure you also add the proto dependency:

// Preferences DataStore
implementation "androidx.datastore:datastore-preferences:1.0.0-alpha01"


// Proto DataStore
implementation  "androidx.datastore:datastore-core:1.0.0-alpha01"

When working with Proto DataStore, you define your schema in a proto file in the app/src/main/proto/ directory. See the protobuf language guide for more information on defining a proto schema.

syntax = "proto3";

option java_package = "<your package name here>";
option java_multiple_files = true;

message Settings {
  int my_counter = 1;
}

Create the DataStore

Create the DataStore with the Context.createDataStore() extension functions.

// with Preferences DataStore
val dataStore: DataStore<Preferences> = context.createDataStore(
    name = "settings"
)

If you're using Proto DataStore, you'll also have to implement the Serializer interface to tell DataStore how to read and write your data type.

object SettingsSerializer : Serializer<Settings> {
    override fun readFrom(input: InputStream): Settings {
        try {
            return Settings.parseFrom(input)
        } catch (exception: InvalidProtocolBufferException) {
            throw CorruptionException("Cannot read proto.", exception)
        }
    }

    override fun writeTo(t: Settings, output: OutputStream) = t.writeTo(output)
}


// with Proto DataStore
val settingsDataStore: DataStore<Settings> = context.createDataStore(
    fileName = "settings.pb",
    serializer = SettingsSerializer
)

Read data from DataStore

DataStore exposes the stored data in a Flow, either in a Preferences object or as the object defined in your proto schema. DataStore ensures that data is retrieved on Dispatchers.IO so your UI thread isn't blocked.

With Preferences DataStore:

val MY_COUNTER = preferencesKey<Int>("my_counter")
val myCounterFlow: Flow<Int> = dataStore.data
     .map { currentPreferences ->
        // Unlike Proto DataStore, there's no type safety here.
        currentPreferences[MY_COUNTER] ?: 0   
   }

With Proto DataStore:

val myCounterFlow: Flow<Int> = settingsDataStore.data
    .map { settings ->
        // The myCounter property is generated for you from your proto schema!
        settings.myCounter 
    }

Write data to DataStore

To write data, DataStore offers a suspending DataStore.updateData() function that gives you the current state of the stored data as a parameter-either as a Preferences object, or an instance of the object defined in the proto schema. The updateData() function updates the data transactionally in an atomic read-write-modify operation. The coroutine completes once the data is persisted on disk.

Preferences DataStore also provides a DataStore.edit() function to make it easier to update data. Instead of receiving a Preferences object, you receive a MutablePreferences object which you edit. As with updateData(), the changes are applied to disk after the transform block completes, and the coroutine completes once data is persisted to disk.

With Preferences DataStore:

suspend fun incrementCounter() {
    dataStore.edit { settings ->
        // We can safely increment our counter without losing data due to races!
        val currentCounterValue = settings[MY_COUNTER] ?: 0
        settings[MY_COUNTER] = currentCounterValue + 1
    }
}

With Proto DataStore:

suspend fun incrementCounter() {
    settingsDataStore.updateData { currentSettings ->
        // We can safely increment our counter without losing data due to races!
        currentSettings.toBuilder()
            .setMyCounter(currentSettings.myCounter + 1)
            .build()
    }
}

Migrate from SharedPreferences to DataStore

To migrate from SharedPreferences to DataStore, you need to pass in a SharedPreferencesMigration object to the DataStore builder. DataStore can automatically migrate from SharedPreferences to DataStore for you. Migrations are run before any data access can occur in DataStore. This means that your migration must have succeeded before DataStore.data returns any values and before DataStore.updateData() can update the data.

If you're migrating to Preferences DataStore, you can use the default SharedPreferencesMigration implementation and just pass in the name used to construct your SharedPreferences.

With Preferences DataStore:

val dataStore: DataStore<Preferences> = context.createDataStore(
    name = "settings",
    migrations = listOf(SharedPreferencesMigration(context, "settings_preferences"))
)

When migrating to Proto DataStore, you'll have to implement a mapping function that defines how to migrate from the key-value pairs used by SharedPreferences to the DataStore schema you defined.

With Proto DataStore:

val settingsDataStore: DataStore<Settings> = context.createDataStore(
    produceFile = { File(context.filesDir, "settings.preferences_pb") },
    serializer = SettingsSerializer,
    migrations = listOf(
        SharedPreferencesMigration(
            context,
            "settings_preferences"            
        ) { sharedPrefs: SharedPreferencesView, currentData: UserPreferences ->
            // Map your sharedPrefs to your type here
          }
    )
)

Wrap-up

SharedPreferences comes with several drawbacks: a synchronous API that can appear safe to call on the UI thread, no mechanism for signaling errors, lack of transactional API, and more. DataStore is a replacement for SharedPreferences that addresses most of these shortcomings. DataStore includes a fully asynchronous API using Kotlin coroutines and Flow, handles data migration, guarantees data consistency, and handles data corruption.

As DataStore is still in alpha, we need your help to make it better! To get started, find out more about DataStore in our documentation and try it out by taking our codelabs: Preferences DataStore codelab and Proto DataStore codelab. Then, let us know how we can improve the library by creating issues on the Issue Tracker.

02 Sep 2020 4:59pm GMT

This is the final blog post for #11WeeksOfAndroid. Thank you for joining us over the past 11 weeks as we dove into key areas of Android development. In case you missed it, here's a recap of everything we talked about during each week:

Week 1 - People and identity

Discover how to implement the conversation shortcut and bubbles with 'conversation notifications'. Also, learn more about conversation additions and other System UI news, and discover the people and conversations developer documentation here. Finally, you can also listen to the Android Backstage podcast where the System UI team is interviewed on people and bubbles.

To tackle user and developer complexity that makes identity a challenge for developers, we've been working on One Tap and Block Store, part of our new Google Identity Services Library.

If you're interested in learning more about Identity, we published the video "in Identity on Android: what's new in sign-in," where Vishal explains the new libraries in the Google Identity System.

Two teams that worked very early with us are the Facebook Messenger team and the direct messaging team from Twitter. Read the story from Twitter here and find out how we worked with Facebook on the implementation here.

Find out more with the People and Identity learning path, playlist, and the week's wrap-up blog post.

Week 2 - Machine learning

We kicked off the week by announcing the winners of the #AndroidDevChallenge! Check out all the winning apps and see how they used ML Kit and TensorFlow Lite, all focused on demonstrating how machine learning can come to life in a powerful way to help users get things done, like an app to help visually impaired navigate crowded spaces or another to help students learn sign language.

We recently made ML Kit a standalone SDK and it no longer requires a Firebase account. Just one line in your build.gradle file and you can start bringing ML functionality into your app.

Another much anticipated addition is the support for swapping Google models with your own for both Image Labeling as well as Object Detection and Tracking.

Find out about the importance of finding the unique intersection of user problems and ML strengths and how the People + AI Guidebook can help you make ML product decisions. Check out the interview with the Read Along team for more inspiration.

This week we also highlighted how adding a custom model to your Android app has never been easier.

Finally, try out our codelabs:

• ML Kit Codelab - Recognize, identify language and translate text with ML Kit and CameraX.
• Custom Model Codelab - Build an Android app to recognize flowers with TensorFlow Lite Model Maker and Android Studio ML model binding
  

Find out more with the Machine Learning pathway, playlist, and the week's wrap-up blog post.

Week 3 - Privacy and security

As shared in the "Privacy and Security" blog post, we're giving users even more control and transparency over user data access.

In Android 11, we introduced various privacy improvements such as one time permissions that let users give an app access to the device microphone, camera, or location, just that one time. Learn more about building privacy-friendly apps with these new changes. You can also learn about various Android security updates in this video.

Other notable updates include:

• Permissions auto-reset: If users haven't used an app that targets Android 11 for an extended period of time, the system will "auto-reset" all of the granted runtime permissions associated with the app and notify the user.
• Data access auditing APIs: In Android 11, developers will have access to new APIs that will give them more transparency into their app's usage of private and protected data. Learn more about new tools in Android 11 to make your apps more private and stable.
• Scoped Storage: In Android 11, scoped storage will be mandatory for all apps that target API level 30. Learn more and check out the storage FAQ.
• Google Play system updates: Google Play system updates were introduced with Android 10 as part of Project Mainline, making it easier to bring core OS component updates to users.
• Jetpack Biometric library:The library has been updated to include new BiometricPrompt features in Android 11 in order to allow for backward compatibility.

Find out more with the 'privacy, trust and security' learning pathway, playlist, and documentation on privacy and security best practices.

Week 4 - Android 11 compatibility

We shipped the second Beta of Android 11 and added a new release milestone called Platform Stability to clearly signal to developers that all APIs and system behaviors are complete. Find out more about Beta 2 and platform stability, including what this milestone means for developers, and the Android 11 timeline. Note: since week #4, we shipped the third and final beta and are getting close to releasing Android 11 to AOSP and the ecosystem. Be sure to check that your apps are working!

To get your apps ready for Android 11, check out some of these helpful resources:

• Guide: Migrating your apps to Android 11
• Guide: Behavior changes that could affect your apps.
• Blog: New tools for testing app compatibility in Android 11
• Video: Testing app compatibility with Android Studio
• Video: Testing platform changes in Android 11
• Video: Platform stability and the Android release timeline

In our "Accelerating Android updates" blog post, we looked at how we're continuing to get the latest OS to reach critical mass by expanding Android's updatability architecture.

We also highlighted Excelliance Tech, who recently moved their LeBian SDK away from non-SDK interfaces, toward stable, official APIs so they can stay more compatible with the Android OS over time. Check out the Excelliance Tech story.

Find out more with the Android 11 Compatibility learning pathway, playlist, and the week's wrap-up blog post.

Week 5 - Languages

With the Android 11 beta, we further improved the developer experience for Kotlin on Android by officially recommending coroutines for asynchronous work. If you're new to coroutines, check out:

• Android ❤️ Coroutines: How to manage async tasks in Kotlin.
• Coroutines learning pathway.
• New coroutines developer guide.

Also, check out our new Kotlin case studies page for the latest case studies and data, including the new Google Home case study, and our state of Kotlin on Android video. For beginners, we announced the launch of our new Android basics in Kotlin course.

If you're a Java language developer, watch support for newer Java APIs on how we've made newer OpenJDK libraries available across versions of Android. With Android 11, we also updated the Android runtime to make app startup even faster with I/O prefetching.

Android 11 included updates across the native toolchain, including better tools for profile-guided optimization (PGO) and improvements to native dependency management in Android Studio 4.0.

Finally, we continue to focus on improvements to the D8 and R8 compilers in Android Studio with better support for Kotlin in the R8 shrinker. Learn more.

Find out more with the languages learning pathway, playlist, and the week's wrap-up blog post.

Week 6 - Android Jetpack

Interested in what's new in Jetpack? Check out the #Android11 Beta launch with a quick fly-by introducing many of the updates to our libraries, with tips on how to get started.

• Dive deeper into major releases like Hilt, with cheat sheets to help you get started, and learn how we migrated our own samples to use Hilt for dependency injection. Less boilerplate = more fun.
• Discover more about Paging 3.0, a complete rewrite of the library using Kotlin coroutines and adding features like improved error handling, better transformations, and much more.
• Get to know CameraX Beta, and learn how it helps developers manage edge cases across different devices and OS versions, so that you don't have to.

This year, we've made several major improvements with the release of Navigation 2.3, which allows you to navigate between different screens of your app with ease while also allowing you to follow Android UI principles.

In Android 11, we continued our work to give users even more control over sensitive permissions. Now there are type-safe contracts for common intents and more via new ActivityResult APIs. These changes simplify how you request permissions, and we'll continue to work on making permissions easier in the future.

Also learn about our recent releases of the AppStartup library as well as what's new in WorkManager.

Find out more with the Jetpack learning pathway, playlist, and the week's wrap-up blog post.

Week 7 - Android developer tools

We have brought together an overview of what is new in Android Developer tools.

Check out the latest updates in design tools, and go even deeper:

• Design Tools Suite UX enhancements in Android Studio 4.1.
• Introducing the Motion Editor.

Also, find out about debugging your layouts, with updates to the layout inspector. Discover the latest developments for Jetpack Compose Design tools, and also how to use the new database inspector in Android Studio.

Discover the latest development tools we have in place for Jetpack Hilt in Android Studio.

Learn about the build system in Android developer tools:

• New APIs in the Android Gradle Plugin
• Understanding your build with the build analyzer
• Configuration Caching deep dive
• Shrinking your app with R8

To learn about the latest updates on virtual testing, read this blog on the Android Emulator. Lastly, to see the latest changes for performance tools, watch performance profilers content about System Trace. Additionally, check out more about C++ memory profiling with Android Studio 4.1.

Find out more with the Android developer tools learning pathway, playlist, and the week's wrap-up blog post.

Week 8 - App distribution and monetization

Check out our webinars about the new Google Play Console beta if you weren't able to tune in live.

We shared recent improvements we've made to app bundles, as well as our intention to require new apps and games to publish with this format in the second half of 2021. The new in-app review API means developers can now ask for ratings and reviews from within your app!

Don't forget about our policy around more transparent subscriptions to help increase user trust in Google Play Billing. We also expanded our feature set to help you better reach and retain buyers, and launched Play Billing Library 3, which will be required by mid-2021.

Google Play Pass launched in nine new markets last month. Developers using both Google Play Pass and direct billing on Google Play have earned an average of 2.5 times US revenue with Google Play Pass, without diminishing Google Play store earnings. Learn more and express interest in joining.

Find out more with the app distribution and monetization learning pathway, playlist, and the week's wrap-up blog post.

Week 9 - Android beyond phones

Check out some of the highlights from this week, including;

• Android TV: We highlighted what's new on Android TV and shared 6 upcoming launches. Find new resources to help developers build their first Android TV app, or even go deep on new integrations like Cast Connect and frictionless subscriptions.
• Android for cars: Discover ways to reach more drivers on Android for cars and more about the launch of the first car powered by Android Automotive OS with Google apps and services built in - the Polestar 2. As more manufacturers ship cars with this embedded functionality, we're making it even easier for developers to build media apps on Android Automotive OS with updated documentation and emulators.
• Large screens: We launched ChromeOS.dev - a dedicated resource for technical developers, designers, product managers, and business leaders. Find best practices for expanding your app beyond the phone and Android development on Chrome OS.
• Wear OS: Learn about improvements coming to the platform in the upcoming release, scheduled for this fall.

Find out more with the learning pathways for Android TV and Large Screens, Beyond phones playlist, and the week's wrap-up blog post.

Week 10 - Games and media

We shared several games updates and presented a special "11 Weeks" episode of The Android Game Developer Show.

• Starting with Android tools for mobile game development, we have included an enhanced System Trace view of the CPU Profiler and added a Native Memory Profiler in Android Studio 4.1. Sign up for developer previews of the Android Game Development Extension and Android GPU Inspector.
• Discover tools to reach more devices and users, including a deep dive into the Android Performance Tuner that explains annotations, quality levels, and fidelity parameters, along with some best practices on how to use them.
• Google Play Asset Delivery also brings the benefits of app bundles to games; find out more. Try a new Codelab to help you integrate Android Performance Tuner and Google Play Asset Delivery into your Unity or native C/C++ game.
• To support your go-to-market, we launched the open beta of Play Games Services - Friends that allows you to bootstrap and enhance your in-game friend networks and provides the opportunity to have your games surfaced in new clusters in the Google Play Games app.
• The Google Play Console beta demonstrates the new release management experience and updates for day one auto-installs, a new Google Play feature that allows users to request the automatic installation of your game during pre-registration. Learn how to optimize your store listing page to take advantage of the greatly improved games visual experience on Google Play and how the new in-app review API lets you choose when to prompt users to write reviews from within your game, without heading back to the app details page.

You can also take advantage of Android 11's new media controls by making sure your app is using MediaStyle with a valid MediaSession token. Learn how to support media resumption by making your app discoverable with a MediaBrowserServiceCompat, using the EXTRA_RECENT hint to help with resuming content, and handling the onPlay and onGetRoot callbacks. Then check out how to leverage the MediaRouter jetpack library and check out the updated version of the UAMP sample.

Finally, we covered some of the primary ways apps can benefit from 5G. Android 11 adds new APIs and updates existing APIs to help ensure you have all the tools you need to leverage the capabilities of 5G, such as an enhanced bandwidth estimation API, 5G detection capabilities, and a new meteredness flag from cellular carriers. The Android emulator now enables you to develop and test these APIs without needing a 5G device or network connection. All of this and more is available from our dedicated 5G page.

Find out more with the 'games and media' learning pathway, playlist, and the wrap-up blog post, and visit d.android.com/games to stay up to date on all of our tools and resources for game developers.

Week 11 - UI

In our final week, we released 4 new codelabs, 9 new samples, new documentation and a podcast from the Compose team. If you prefer videos; we've got you covered:

• Thinking in Compose
• Compose by Example
• Compose for Existing

New in Android 11 is the ability for apps to create seamless transitions between the on screen keyboard being opened and closed. To find out how to add this to your app, slide on over to the video, blog posts and sample app

We recommend following the Material Design guidelines to ensure that apps operate consistently, enabling patterns learned in one app to be used in another. Find out more about Material Theming (color, type and shape), dark theme and Material's motion system using the Material Design Components (MDC) library. If you haven't already migrated to MDC, then check out our migration guide.

It even becomes possible to ease your migration with libraries like the new MDC-Android Compose Theme Adapter which converts an MDC XML theme into a Compose `MaterialTheme`.

Find out more with the Compose learning pathway, the Modern UI learning pathway, playlist, and the week's wrap-up blog post.

Resources

You can find the entire playlist of #11WeeksOfAndroid video content here. Follow us on Twitter and YouTube, and subscribe to our email list to receive all the latest news and resources. Thanks so much for letting us be a part of this experience with you!

31 Aug 2020 7:04pm GMT

Posted by Chris Banes & Nick Butcher

This blog post is part of a weekly series for #11WeeksOfAndroid. Each week we're diving into a key area of Android so you don't miss anything. This week, we spotlighted people & identity; here's a look at what you should know.

The big news: Jetpack Compose Alpha

This week we released the first alpha of Jetpack Compose 🎉, Android's modern UI toolkit with native access to the platform APIs. Compose combines the power of Kotlin with the reactive programming model to make it easier and faster to build UI. We want your feedback to help us build the APIs that you need in your apps, so now is the time to try it out.

To get you up to speed with Compose, this week we've released 4 new codelabs, 7 new samples, new documentation and a podcast from the Compose team. If you prefer videos; we've got you covered...

To understand the reactive mindset and how to think about building apps with Compose, check out 'Thinking in Compose':

Learn how Jetpack Compose makes Android UI easier by walking through concrete examples from our open-source sample apps in 'Compose by Example':

Finally, to understand how Jetpack Compose and View based UIs can co-exist and interact, making it easy to adopt Compose at your own pace, check out 'Compose for Existing' apps:

Keyboard (IME) animations

New in Android 11 is the ability for apps to create seamless transitions between the on screen keyboard being opened and closed, as well as a revamped WindowInsets API to enable control of things such as the keyboard (IME). To find out how to add this to your app, slide on over to the video, blog posts and sample app…

Material Design Components

We recommend following the Material Design guidelines to ensure that apps operate consistently, that patterns learned in one app can be used in another. Check out our new blog posts on Material Theming (color, type and shape), dark theme and Material's motion system using the Material Design Components (MDC) library.

Adopting MDC now will prepare your codebase for later adopting Jetpack Compose - it uses the same concepts, design vocabulary and components. It even becomes possible to ease your migration with libraries like the new MDC-Android Compose Theme Adapter which converts an MDC XML theme into a Compose `MaterialTheme`.

If you haven't already migrated to MDC, then check out our migration guide.

Learning path

If you're looking for an easy way to pick up the highlights of this week, you can check out the learning pathways. This week we have two pathways for you to go through: the Compose pathway, and the 'Modern UI' pathway.

A pathway is an ordered tutorial that allows users to complete a pre-defined module that culminates in a quiz. It may include codelabs, videos, articles and blog posts. A virtual badge is awarded to each user who passes the quiz. Test your knowledge in each pathway to earn a limited edition badge.

Key takeaways

Whether you're building with the current UI toolkit or getting ready for the next generation we hope that the resources that we've shared this week help you to create beautiful, engaging UIs that your users will love. Thanks to everyone who tuned in or joined us for the AMA. Follow the Modern UI pathway to learn how to leverage Material Design, animation or the latest Android 11 features. Take the Compose pathway to learn about the future of Android UI development and help shape it with your feedback.

Resources

You can find the entire playlist of #11WeeksOfAndroid video content here, and learn more about each week here. We'll continue to spotlight new areas each week, so keep an eye out and follow us on Twitter and YouTube. Thanks so much for letting us be a part of this experience with you!

28 Aug 2020 7:01pm GMT

Posted by Karen Ng, Director, Product Management

Today, we're releasing the alpha of Jetpack Compose, our modern UI toolkit designed to help you quickly and easily build beautiful apps across all Android platforms, with native access to the platform APIs. Bring your app to life with dramatically less code, interactive tools, and intuitive Kotlin APIs.

No matter where you're working from -- whether it's your kitchen table or an office, we know you need a programming language, an IDE and a powerful UI framework that can save you time and reduce how much code you need to write. So we built Jetpack Compose to make you (and us!) more productive with building UI.

We started with Android Jetpack - taking the hardest, most common developer problems on Android and creating a suite of libraries that ensure high quality apps that work across all versions of the platform. Today, 84% of the top 10,000 apps in the Play store are using a Jetpack library.

Then we heard how developers love Kotlin, with over 70% of the top 1000 apps and 60% of pro Android developers using Kotlin today. The Google Home app saw, in certain instances, an 80% reduction in lines of code by using Kotlin and a decrease of NullPointerExceptions by 33% compared to a similar past period. Duolingo, saw reduced line count by an average of 30%.

Finally, we heard strong feedback from the community that developers like the simplicity of declarative APIs for building UI. Jetpack Compose combines all three of these: APIs for high quality apps at scale, an intuitive language, and a reactive programming model.

Jetpack Compose: Now in Alpha

Jetpack Compose Alpha has what you need to build full-fledged Android apps, including powerful tools and interoperability with existing Android views so you don't need to rewrite your app. Compose APIs are designed and developed hand-in-hand with a set of canonical sample apps that use Material Design that we're excited to release today! You can import and explore the latest samples directly in Android Studio as well.

The alpha release includes:

• Animations
• Constraint Layout
• Initial A11Y support
• Input and Gestures
• Interoperability with Views (start mixing Composable functions in your existing app)
• Lazy Lists
• Material UI components
• Performance optimizations
• Testing
• Text and editable Text
• Theming and Graphics
• Window management

We've also added a number of new capabilities to Android Studio 4.2 canary, in close partnership with the JetBrains Kotlin team, to help you build apps with Compose:

• Compose Code completion
• Compose Preview Annotations
• Deploy individual composables to any device
• Interactive Compose previews
• Kotlin compiler plugin for code generation
• Sample Data API for Compose

Thinking in Compose

Compose uses a programming model that is quite different from the existing model of building UI on Android. Historically, an Android view hierarchy has been represented as a tree of UI widgets. As the state of the app changes, the UI hierarchy needs to be updated to display the current data. The most common way of updating the UI is to walk the tree using functions like findViewById(), and change nodes by calling methods like:

 button.setText(String) 

container.addView(View) 

 img.setImageBitmap(Bitmap) 

These methods change the internal state of the widget. Not only can this be tedious, but updating views manually increases the likelihood of errors (e.g. forgetting to update a view).

Jetpack Compose is a fully declarative component-based approach, meaning you describe your UI as functions that transform data into a UI hierarchy. When the underlying data changes, the Compose framework automatically updates the UI hierarchy for you, making it simple to build UIs easily and quickly.

Full interop with existing Android views

Adopting any new framework is a big change for existing projects and codebases, which is why we've designed Compose to be as easy to adopt as Kotlin - it is fully interoperable with existing Android code, from day one.

Migrating to Compose depends on you and your team. If you're building a new app, the best option might be to implement your entire UI with Compose. We know that most of you have large existing codebases, so rather than rewriting your app, you can combine Compose with your existing UI design.

There are two main ways you can combine Compose with a view-based UI:

• You can add Compose elements into your existing UI, either by creating an entirely new Compose-based screen, or by adding Compose elements into an existing fragment or view layout.
• You can add a view-based UI element into your composable functions. Doing so lets you add non-Compose widgets, such as MapView or WebView, into a Compose-based design.

We've also published a new library, MDC Compose Theme Adapter, which allows you to reuse your existing Material Components themes within your Compose UI.

To learn more, try the Compose for existing apps codelab or check out these two samples:

• Tivi and Sunflower are existing apps which are being integrated with Compose
• Crane sample app, embeds a MapView in Compose

Powerful Tools

Jetpack Compose is built with powerful tooling in Android Studio, designed to help you iterate quickly on the piece of UI you're working on.

The Compose layout preview enables you to preview your Compose components without having to deploy your app to a device or emulator. As you develop your app, your previews update to help you review your changes faster. To create a layout preview, write a composable function that does not take any parameters, and add the

 @Preview annotation 

After you build your app, the preview function's UI appears in Studio's Preview pane.

Android Studio provides an interactive preview mode. While you're in interactive preview mode, you can click or type in your UI elements, and the UI responds as if it were in the installed app.

You can also deploy a single composable to your physical device or Android Emulator. Android Studio creates a new activity containing the UI generated by that function, and deploys it to your app on the device. This lets you try out the UI on an actual device without needing to reinstall the entire app or navigate to its location.

Get started with Jetpack Compose

To get started with Jetpack Compose, try the Compose Tutorial and get setup. Or dive right into the sample apps and walk through those apps in 'Compose by Example':

To find a comprehensive set of Compose resources, from new codelabs and expanded documentation, see the Compose pathway.

Since we open-sourced Jetpack Compose last year, so many of you have given us invaluable feedback, logged bugs, or contributed CLs and have gotten us where we are today. Thank you!

Compose isn't recommended for full production use yet, in particular as we work towards API stability and finish performance optimizations, but we'd love you to give it a try and share feedback. Join us in the discussion on the #compose channel at Kotlin Slack. Compose 1.0 is expected in 2021.

Happy Composing!

26 Aug 2020 5:02pm GMT

Posted by Dan Galpin, Developer Advocate

This blog post is part of a weekly series for #11WeeksOfAndroid. For each of the #11WeeksOfAndroid, we're diving into key areas so you don't miss anything. This week, we spotlighted games, media, and 5G; here's a look at what you should know.

What's the buzz in Android 11?

• You can now control media applications from a dedicated space within the notification area while enabling features such as playback resumption and seamless transfer.
• New and updated 5g APIs help you unlock transformative new user experiences.
• Adds new support for key game tools and technologies. On top of that foundation, we're building tools to both improve your game developer experience and help you better characterize the performance of your game, services to help you expand the reach of your game to more devices and new audiences, and new and improved features to support your games' go-to-market with Google Play.

Android 11 media

We covered how to take advantage of Android 11's new media controls by making sure your app is using MediaStyle with a valid MediaSession token. We showed how to support Media resumption by making your app discoverable with a MediaBrowserServiceCompat, using the EXTRA_RECENT hint to help with resuming content, and handling the onPlay and onGetRoot callbacks. Finally we showed you how to leverage the MediaRouter jetpack library to support seamless media transfer between devices. Check out the updated version of the UAMP sample which contains a reference implementation for media controls and playback resumption.

Android 11 and 5G

We covered some of the primary ways apps can benefit from 5g, including:

• Turning indoor use cases into outdoor use cases
• Turning photo-centric UX into video-centric or AR-centric UX
• Prefetch helpfully to make your app even more responsive
• Turn niche use cases into mainstream use cases, such as allowing streaming content everywhere

Android 11 adds new APIs and updates existing APIs to ensure you have all the tools you need to leverage the capabilities of 5G, such as an enhanced bandwidth estimation API, 5G detection capabilities, and a new meteredness flag from cellular carriers. The Android emulator now enables you to develop and test these APIs without needing a 5G device or network connection. All of this and more is available from our dedicated 5G page.

Catch up on what's happening with game development

We presented a special "11 Weeks" episode of The Android Game Developer Show providing an update on the tools, services, and technologies we're bringing to help you build, optimize, and distribute great games.

Check out d.android.com/games to learn about everything we've covered this week and more, and stay up to date by signing up for the games quarterly newsletter.

Android game development tooling

In Android Studio 4.1, we enhanced the System Trace view of the CPU Profiler and added the Native Memory Profiler, and both can now be launched standalone from Android Studio. The System Trace and Native Memory blog posts have more details on how to use them with your game or app.

You can sign up for developer previews of the Android Game Development Extension, and the Android GPU Inspector. The Android Game Development Extension helps with building multi-platform C/C++ games, while the GPU Inspector is used to profile and debug graphics. Stay tuned for the open beta of the Android GPU Inspector.

Reaching more devices and users with your game

We took a deep dive into the Android Performance Tuner, explaining annotations, quality levels, and fidelity parameters along with some best practices on how to use them. Once you've implemented that, we also covered how to use the new insights and analysis you'll get within Android Vitals.

We showed how Google Play Asset Delivery brings the benefits of app bundles to games with large asset sizes, flexible delivery modes, auto-updates, compression, and delta patching. Texture compression format targeting is coming very soon letting you tap into modern texture compression such as ASTC (now supported on over 50% of devices) allowing you to considerably cut your game size and in-memory footprint.

We published new codelabs to help you integrate Android Performance Tuner and Google Play Asset Delivery into your Unity or native C/C++ game.

We explained how we can help protect your game, players, and business by fighting monetization and distribution abuse.

Boost your games' go-to-market

We launched the open beta of Play Games Services - Friends to help you bootstrap and enhance your in-game friend networks while having your games surfaced in new clusters in the Play Games app.

We demonstrated the new release management experience in the Google Play Console beta and showed how it can help your testing and publishing workflow.

Day one auto-installs is a new Google Play feature that allows users to request the automatic installation of your game during pre-registration. Early experiments show a +20% increase in day 1 installs when using this feature. The new pre-registration menu in the beta Google Play Console makes it easier than ever to access this feature.

We showed how to optimize your store listing page to take advantage of the greatly improved games visual experience within Google Play, showcasing rich game graphics and engaging videos.

The new in-app review API lets you choose when to prompt users to write reviews from within your game, without heading back to the app details page. This API supports both public and private reviews for when your app is in beta.

Learning path

If you're looking for an easy way to pick up the highlights of this week, check out the Games, media, and 5G pathway. A pathway is an ordered tutorial that allows users to complete a pre-defined module that culminates in a quiz. It includes videos and blog posts. A virtual badge is awarded to each user who passes the quiz. Test your knowledge of key takeaways about Android game development, media, and 5G to earn a limited edition badge.

Key takeaways

Thank you for tuning in and learning about the latest in Android game, media, and 5G development.

Seamless media transfer and media resumption

MediaRouter API (UAMP Sample)

5G

Bandwidth estimation API

5G Detection (Android Emulator)

Meteredness flag

Features found in Android Studio 4.1 (Beta Channel)

System Trace in Android Studio CPU Profiler

Android Studio Native Memory Profiler

Pre-release standalone tools

Android Game Development Extension

Android GPU Inspector.

Features in the Android Game SDK

Android Frame Pacing Library

Android Performance Tuner (C/C++ Codelab) (Unity Codelab)

Google Play features

Play Asset Delivery (C/C++ Codelab) (Unity Codelab)

In App Review API

App Licensing

SafetyNet Attestation

Pre-registration

Google Play Games Services

Play Games Services Friends Beta

You can find the entire playlist of #11WeeksOfAndroid video content here, and learn more about each week here. We'll continue to spotlight new areas each week, so keep an eye out and follow us on Twitter and YouTube. Thanks so much for letting us be a part of this experience with you!

21 Aug 2020 7:08pm GMT

Posted by Stella Loh, Product Manager, Android 5G

Getting ready for 5G on Android

Connectivity is the lifeblood that makes all of the experiences on our phones come alive, helping us connect, communicate, and express ourselves to the people that we care about. As app developers, this mission is as important now as it's ever been. You've probably heard the buzz around 5G and wondered: what does this mean for my app? As we dive into Media & Games as part of this weeks' #11WeeksofAndroid, two areas where 5G offers a lot of potential, we wanted to spotlight ways for you to think about taking advantage of 5G for your app or game.

Transforming your app or game with 5G: unlocking new experiences

5G isn't just about faster connectivity: it's about unlocking transformative new experiences, and we want to see how you continue to push the bar.

• Turn indoor use cases into outdoor use cases: Suddenly, everything you could only do indoors comes alive outside, like high-quality video chat and playing multiplayer games wherever you happen to be.
• Turn photo-centric UX into video-centric or AR-centric UX: Upgrade your users' experience by replacing photos with videos and by incorporating augmented reality into your UX.
• Prefetch helpfully, delight rather than buffer: Use the increased bandwidth to prefetch content, further enhancing the responsiveness of your app or game.
• Turn niche use cases into mainstream use cases: Streaming content on older networks was the exception. Make streaming content the new mainstream with 5G.

We've been hard at work building in support for 5G on Android, and have been working with 5G carriers starting with Verizon and AT&T in the U.S., as well as others in Europe and Asia to provide necessary Android features for app developers looking to build 5G experiences.

In addition to working with the carriers, we have been updating and adding new APIs to ensure you have all the tools you need to leverage the capabilities of 5G. First, we enhanced the functionality of our bandwidth estimation API. Then we added 5G detection capabilities, so you know when to take it up a notch. Lastly, we added a new meteredness flag from cellular carriers so you know when your user isn't being charged for bandwidth, and can really bring it!

We've also added features to the Android SDK emulator to enable you to develop and test these APIs without needing a 5G device or network connection.

All of this means that 5G starts here and now. Check out our new page dedicated to 5G so you can start imagining how 5G can transform your app.

21 Aug 2020 1:21pm GMT

Posted by Don Turner - Developer Advocate - Android Media

In Android 11 we've made it easier than ever for users to control media playback. This is achieved with three related features: media controls, playback resumption and seamless transfer.

This article will explain what these features are, how they work together and how you can take advantage of them in your apps.

Media Controls

Android 11's media controls are found below the Quick Settings panel and represent a dedicated persistent space for controlling media playback.

Media controls in Android 11

Part of the motivation for media controls is that users often have multiple media apps (music player, podcasts, video player etc) and regularly switch between them. Media controls display up to five current and recent media sessions in a carousel allowing the user to swipe between them.

On Android 10 and earlier, media notifications for multiple apps can occupy most of the notification area. All those control buttons can also be confusing. Moving the controls into a dedicated space means that there's more room for other notifications, and provides a more consistent user experience for controlling media apps.

Here's the comparison:

Android 10 media notifications (left) Android 11 media controls (right)

Displaying media controls for your app

Now, the really good news. As long as you're using MediaStyle with a valid MediaSession token (both available since Lollipop API 21), media controls will be displayed for your app automatically - no extra work for you!

In case you're not using a MediaStyle and MediaSession here's a quick recap in code:

// Create a media session. NotificationCompat.MediaStyle
// PlayerService is your own Service or Activity responsible for media playback.  
val mediaSession = MediaSessionCompat(this, "PlayerService")

// Create a MediaStyle object and supply your media session token to it. 
val mediaStyle = Notification.MediaStyle().setMediaSession(mediaSession.sessionToken)

// Create a Notification which is styled by your MediaStyle object. 
// This connects your media session to the media controls. 
// Don't forget to include a small icon.
val notification = Notification.Builder(this@PlayerService, CHANNEL_ID)
            .setStyle(mediaStyle)
            .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_app_logo)
            .build()

// Specify any actions which your users can perform, such as pausing and skipping to the next track. 
val pauseAction: Notification.Action = Notification.Action.Builder(
            pauseIcon, "Pause", pauseIntent
        ).build()
notification.addAction(pauseAction)

The small icon and app name are shown in the upper left of the media controls. The actions are shown in the bottom center.

Media controls UI and corresponding Notification fields

The remaining UI fields, such as track title and playback position, are obtained from the media session's metadata and playback state.

Here's how the metadata fields map to the UI.

mediaSession.setMetadata(
    MediaMetadataCompat.Builder()
        
        // Title. 
        .putString(MediaMetadata.METADATA_KEY_TITLE, currentTrack.title)

        // Artist. 
        // Could also be the channel name or TV series.
        .putString(MediaMetadata.METADATA_KEY_ARTIST, currentTrack.artist)
        
        // Album art. 
        // Could also be a screenshot or hero image for video content
        // The URI scheme needs to be "content", "file", or "android.resource".
        .putString(
            MediaMetadata.METADATA_KEY_ALBUM_ART_URI, currentTrack.albumArtUri)
        )

        // Duration. 
        // If duration isn't set, such as for live broadcasts, then the progress
        // indicator won't be shown on the seekbar.
        .putLong(MediaMetadata.METADATA_KEY_DURATION, currentTrack.duration) // 4

        .build()
)

This screenshot shows how these metadata fields are displayed in the media controls.

Media controls UI and corresponding metadata fields

The seek bar is updated using the media session's playback state in a similar way:

mediaSession.setPlaybackState(
    PlaybackStateCompat.Builder()
        .setState(
            PlaybackStateCompat.STATE_PLAYING,
                        
            // Playback position.
            // Used to update the elapsed time and the progress bar. 
            mediaPlayer.currentPosition.toLong(), 
                        
            // Playback speed. 
            // Determines the rate at which the elapsed time changes. 
            playbackSpeed
        )

        // isSeekable. 
        // Adding the SEEK_TO action indicates that seeking is supported 
        // and makes the seekbar position marker draggable. If this is not 
        // supplied seek will be disabled but progress will still be shown.
        .setActions(PlaybackStateCompat.ACTION_SEEK_TO)
        .build()
)

This screenshot shows how these playback state fields are displayed in the media controls.

Media controls UI and corresponding playback state fields

Your media controls should now look and function perfectly!

Media resumption

Ever wanted to continue listening to a podcast, TV episode or DJ set but couldn't remember where you left off, or even the app that was playing it? Media resumption solves this problem.

There are two stages to media resumption: discovering recent media apps and resuming playback.

Discovering recent media apps

After booting, Android will look for recent media apps and ask them what their most recently played content was. It will then create media controls for that content.

To be discoverable your app must provide a MediaBrowserService, typically using the MediaBrowserServiceCompat library from Android Jetpack.

On boot, Android will call your MediaBrowserServiceCompat's onGetRoot method, so it's imperative that you return quickly. Usually you would return the root of your media tree from this method but the system also specifies the EXTRA_RECENT hint.

You should treat EXTRA_RECENT as a special case and instead return the root of a media tree that contains the most recently played media item as the first element.

The system will call your onLoadChildren method to obtain this media tree, which is a list of MediaItem objects.

Here's a diagram showing how the system and a media app interact to retrieve the most recently played item.

How the system retrieves the most recently played item from the MediaBrowserService

For the first playable media item in this list the system will create static media controls with just a play button.

Static media controls

At this point no media session has been created. This is to save resources - the system doesn't know whether the user actually wants to resume playing that content yet.

Resuming playback

If the user taps the play button the system will make another call to onGetRoot with the EXTRA_RECENT hint. This is so you can prepare your previously played content as before, just in case anything has changed since the static controls were created.

Android will then connect to your media session and issue a play command to it. You should override the media session onPlay callback in order to start playback of your media content and create your MediaStyle notification.

Once you post the notification the static media controls will be swapped with the media controls created from your notification.

Figure 7: Diagram showing interaction between System UI and media app when resuming playback

Seamless media transfer

As well as being able to resume media sessions, Android 11 also allows you to easily transfer playback from one device to another. This is known as "seamless media transfer", and is done through the output switcher. The output switcher is shown in the upper right corner of the media notification that appears below.

Output Switcher (upper right corner)

The output switcher shows the name and icon of the current media route; and when you tap on it you'll see a list of media routes which this app supports.

Media routes available to the current app

By default, only local media routes are shown. If your app supports other media routes, such as remote playback you'll need to let the system know.

To do this add the MediaRouter jetpack library to your app.

dependencies {
    implementation 'androidx.mediarouter:mediarouter:1.2.0-alpha02'`
}

Seamless media transfer is supported from 1.2.0-alpha02.

Then, add the MediaTransferReceiver class to your Android manifest.

<receiver android:name="androidx.mediarouter.media.MediaTransferReceiver" />

Now in your app, obtain the MediaRouter singleton - this is an object that maintains the state of all currently available media routes.

router = MediaRouter.getInstance(this)

Create a MediaRouteSelector and specify the route categories which your app supports. The categories you define here determine the routes which are displayed in the output switcher.

Here we'll just specify the "remote playback" category which is used for Cast devices.

routeSelector = MediaRouteSelector.Builder() // Add control categories that this media app is interested in.
            .addControlCategory(MediaControlIntent.CATEGORY_REMOTE_PLAYBACK)
            .build()

If you want to support transfer from remote to local devices, you need to explicitly enable this using setTransferToLocalEnabled:

router.routerParams = MediaRouterParams.Builder().setTransferToLocalEnabled(true).build()

We can now use our selector when adding a media router callback.

router.addCallback(routeSelector, MediaRouterCallback(),
             MediaRouter.CALLBACK_FLAG_REQUEST_DISCOVERY);

We also supply a callback object so we can be informed of changes to media routes.

Here's the callback class:

    private class MediaRouterCallback : MediaRouter.Callback() {
        override fun onRouteSelected(
            router: MediaRouter,
            route: MediaRouter.RouteInfo,
            reason: Int
        ) {
            if (reason == MediaRouter.UNSELECT_REASON_ROUTE_CHANGED) {
                Timber.d("Unselected because route changed, continue playback")
            } else if (reason == MediaRouter.UNSELECT_REASON_STOPPED) {
                Timber.d("Unselected because route was stopped, stop playback")
            }
        }
    }

The method we override is onRouteSelected which will be called whenever a new media route has been selected.

When this happens we need to take into account the reason why it was selected.

If the existing route was disconnected (for example, bluetooth headphones were switched off) we should pause or stop playback.

If the route was actively changed, for example when switching from a phone to a Cast device, then we should continue playing the media from its previous playback position - this is the "seamless" part of "seamless media transfer" :)

Get started

To get started with media controls and related features on Android 11 take a look at the official documentation. Also be sure to check out UAMP which contains a reference implementation for many of the features mentioned in this article.

Good luck and remember to play nicely!

20 Aug 2020 10:02pm GMT

Posted by Wojtek Kaliciński, Developer Advocate, Android

When we adopted Kotlin as a supported language on Android, and then shifted to a Kotlin-first approach, one of the main drivers was the excitement and adoption from the developer community. As Kotlin has grown, we've seen continued investment in the language from JetBrains (Kotlin's creators), the open source community, and increasingly our own teams at Google.

Today we are excited to share the news about the Kotlin 1.4 release, the next milestone in the evolution of Kotlin, which contains new language features, improved compilers and tools. Below you'll find a brief rundown of some exciting new features in this release. You can read more about Kotlin 1.4 in the official announcement.

New language features

New language features introduced in Kotlin 1.4 improve the ergonomics of writing Kotlin code. Here's just one example:

SAM conversions for Kotlin interfaces

Previously, only functional interfaces (i.e. having just a Single Abstract Method - SAM) defined in the Java programming language benefited from the shorthand syntax in Kotlin:

executor.execute { println("This is shorthand for passing in a Runnable") }

In Kotlin 1.4 you can now mark your Kotlin interfaces as functional and get them to work in a similar manner by adding the fun keyword:

fun interface Transformer<T, U> {
   fun transform(x: T): U
}
val length = Transformer {
   x: String -> x.length
}

You can read more about new language features such as: mixing named and positional arguments, trailing comma, callable reference improvements, and using break and continue inside when included in loops on the Kotlin 1.4 release notes page.

Explicit API mode

One additional feature is the new Explicit API mode for authors of libraries written in Kotlin.

It enforces certain language properties of Kotlin that are normally optional, such as specifying visibility modifiers, as well as explicit typing for any public declarations, in order to prevent mistakes when designing the public API of your library. Refer to the linked documentation for instructions how to enable Explicit API mode and start using these additional checks.

Compiler improvements

The language features mentioned above are some of the most developer-facing changes in Kotlin 1.4, however the bulk of work went into improving the overall quality and performance of the Kotlin compiler.

One of the benefits all developers can take advantage of right now is the new, more powerful type inference algorithm, which is now enabled by default. It will help developers be more productive by supporting more smart-casts and cases where types can be inferred automatically.

Other than the type inference algorithm, Kotlin 1.4 also brings in optional, Alpha stability compiler backends for Kotlin/JVM and Kotlin/JS, which generate code in what's called internal representation (IR) also used in the Kotlin/Native backend.

The Kotlin/JVM IR backend is a requirement for Jetpack Compose, and Google engineers are working together with JetBrains to make it the default JVM compiler backend in the future.

That's why, even if you're not currently developing with Jetpack Compose, we encourage you to try out the new Kotlin/JVM backend, currently in alpha, and to file any issues and feature requests to the issue tracker.

To enable the new JVM IR backend, specify an additional compiler option in your Gradle build script:

kotlinOptions.useIR = true

Try Kotlin 1.4 now!

There are two steps to updating your projects and IDE to Kotlin 1.4.

First, make sure you are on the latest version of Android Studio to maximize the performance benefits and compatibility with the newest Kotlin plugin. Android Studio will prompt you when a Kotlin 1.4.0 plugin that is compatible with your IDE version is available. Alternatively, you can go to Preferences | Plugins and manually trigger the update.

Once the plugin is enabled, you can upgrade your app project to use Kotlin 1.4 by updating the Kotlin Gradle plugin version in your build.gradle scripts. Depending on how you manage your plugins, you either have to update the version in the top-level project's buildscript block:

buildscript {
    dependencies {
        classpath "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin:1.4.0"
    }
}

Or change the version number in the plugins block in a module level build.gradle file:

plugins {
    id 'org.jetbrains.kotlin.android' version '1.4.0'
}

Make sure to read the language changes carefully and update your project's code to ensure compatibility with the latest release. Enjoy Kotlin 1.4!

Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

17 Aug 2020 5:44pm GMT

Posted by Greg Hartrell, Head of Product Management, Games on Android & Google Play

Welcome to our latest Android games update and the start of our #11WeeksOfAndroid week focused on games, media and 5G. With all of your interest and feedback in our developer previews, tools and services, we have lots to share in our ongoing efforts to help you better understand your game's performance, expand your reach to more devices and new audiences, and support your go-to-market with Google Play.

Get the latest updates below and follow us at @AndroidDev for additional games resources and more.

Android tools for mobile game development

• Android Studio 4.1: We've enhanced the CPU Profiler to expose more data with an improved UI, and we've added memory visualization, startup profiling capabilities, and sampling rate configuration to our Native Memory Profiler. Additionally, you can now open the Android Studio Profilers in a standalone UI. Checkout the System Trace and Native Memory blog posts for more details, and update Android Studio today for better profiling.
• Android Game Development Extension: For developers building games on multiple platforms with C/C++, we continue to invest in our extension for Visual Studio, including adding support for Visual Studio 2019 and launching standalone Android Studio Profilers. Sign up for the developer preview to integrate with your Visual Studio workflow.
• Android GPU Inspector: Look into the GPU of Android devices to better understand the bottlenecks and utilize the insights to optimize the graphical performance of your game experiences. Sign up for the developer preview and stay tuned for our upcoming open beta.

Reach more devices and users

• Android Performance Tuner: Deliver higher quality game experiences to more Android users with less effort. Measure your frame rate performance and graphical fidelity and optimise between them to achieve stable frame rates at scale across the whole Android device ecosystem. Integrate the Unity plug-in or do a custom integration. Learn more in our new session.
• Android Game SDK: Achievieving smoother frame rates and managing input latency on Android has become even easier! Now that the Game SDK is part of Jetpack, it's simple to integrate our gaming libraries, such as the Frame Pacing API or the Android Performance Tuner, into your game. Grab the SDK or integrate it now through Jetpack.
• Play Asset Delivery: Improve your user experience while reducing delivery costs and the size of your game with Play Asset Delivery's flexible delivery modes, auto-updates and delta patching. Gameloft used PAD to improve user retention, resulting in 10% more new players than with their previous asset delivery system. App bundle format will be required for all new apps starting August 2021. As part of this, we will deprecate legacy APK expansion files (OBBs), making Play Asset Delivery the standard option for publishing games over 150MB.
• Protect game integrity and fairness with Google Play tools: Protect your game, players, and business by reducing costs fighting monetization and distribution abuse. Some partners have seen up to a 40% decrease in potential hacks and up to a 30% decrease in fraudulent purchase attempts using our integrity and commerce APIs. Express interest in the automatic integrity protection EAP.

Boost your go-to-market

• Play Games Services - Friends: Now in open beta, help players easily find and play with friends across Android games. Millions of players have a new platform-level friends list that you can access to bootstrap and enhance your in-game friend networks and have your games surfaced in new clusters in the Play Games app. Start using Google Play Games Services - Friends in your game today.
• Pre-registration: Boost early installs with pre-registration and day 1 auto install. Early experiments show a +20% increase in day 1 installs when using this new feature. We have also optimized our day 1 notifications to pre-registered users. Try out the new pre-registration menu in the Play Developer Console to access this feature.
• Play store updates: We're updating games home with a much greater visual experience, showcasing rich game graphics and engaging videos. This provides a more arcade-like browse experience helping users discover new games that match what they like to play. Learn how to optimize your store listing page with the best quality assets.
• In-app reviews: Give users the ability to leave a review from within your game, without heading back to the app details page, using our new in-app review API, part of the Play Core Library. Learn more in our recent blog post.

Check out d.android.com/games to learn about these tools and more, and stay up to date by signing up for the games quarterly newsletter.

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17 Aug 2020 4:13pm GMT

Posted by Product Leads for Android TV, Android for cars, Wear OS, and Chrome OS


This blog post is part of a weekly series for #11WeeksOfAndroid. Each week we're diving into a key area of Android so you don't miss anything. This week, we spotlighted Android Beyond Phones; here's a look at what you should know.
With Android, people can experience the apps and services that they love across many devices & surfaces. Beyond phones, Android offers distinct yet familiar experiences on devices of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the smallest smartwatch screens, to larger displays on foldables and Chromebooks, to in-car entertainment systems, and all the way up to the largest television screens. For the past 4 days, we featured a daily deep dive into each of these exciting form factors that are providing developers with new and growing ways to engage people. Read on for a recap.
Android TV
We kicked off the week with Android TV, which is now partnering with 7 of the top 10 OEMs and over 160 television operators across the globe. The Android TV team highlighted 6 upcoming launches, like instant app trials right from Google Play and an updated Gboard, to help developers acquire more users, more easily monetize, and build even more engaging experiences. Then, new resources were published to help developers build their first Android TV app, or even go deep on new integrations like Cast Connect and frictionless subscriptions. If you're excited about developing for TV, pick up an ADT-3, learn the latest from the training pathway, and bring your Android app to the biggest screen in the home!
Android for Cars
We shared new ways to reach more drivers on Android for cars. Android Auto, which allows you to connect your phone to your car display, is currently available with nearly every major car manufacturer and is on track to reach 100 million cars. Soon, new app categories including navigation, parking, and electric vehicle charging will be available and the experience for Android Auto users will become even more seamless as car manufacturers continue to add support for wireless connectivity. We also highlighted the launch of the first car powered by Android Automotive OS with Google apps and services built in - the Polestar 2. As more manufacturers ship cars with this embedded functionality, we're making it even easier for developers to build media apps on Android Automotive OS with updated documentation and emulators. Get started today to bring your app to cars!
Large Screens
We covered large screens starting with the announcement of ChromeOS.dev - a dedicated resource for technical developers, designers, product managers, and business leaders. We've showcased our growth in device sales in Chrome OS, seeing Chromebook unit sales grew 127% year over year between March and June this year¹, as well as some of the new features coming, such as customizable Linux Terminal and Android Emulator support. We've also continued to see growth in apps optimized for larger screen experiences, with over 1 million apps optimized for tablets and large screens available in the Google Play store. To help you develop the best-in-class apps for Chrome OS, foldables and tablets, we are continuing to release new features and updates. We released new design recommendations for your app as well as a few updates made in Android Studio. Check out the new sessions and some of the resurfaced content to learn more about bringing the best experiences to your users on these large-screen devices.
Wear OS
To round out the week, we talked about Wear OS where we are investing in the fundamentals with a focus on performance and faster app startup times, which you'll see in the latest platform release coming in the fall. Wear OS will be launching updates to cornerstone features like Weather in the coming months, and is investing in helpful experiences, such as our recent hand-wash timer to help people maintain hand-hygiene in the Covid-19 pandemic. The team is working hard to bring the best of Android 11 to Wear OS. Learn more about what they're working on, here.
Learning paths
Are you building your apps with different screen sizes and form factors in mind? Check out all the resources for Wear OS and Android for cars, and if you're looking for an easy way to pick up the highlights of this week for Android TV and large screens, consider completing the pathway for each. These include codelabs, videos, articles and blog posts. A virtual badge is awarded to each user who passes the quiz.
We hope that you found the Android Beyond Phones week useful, and we're excited to see all the great experiences that you'll build on these platforms!
Resources
You can find the entire playlist of #11WeeksOfAndroid video content here, and learn more about each week here. We'll continue to spotlight new areas each week, so keep an eye out and follow us on Twitter and YouTube. Thanks so much for letting us be a part of this experience with you!
Sources:
¹ The NPD Group, Inc., U.S. Retail Tracking Service, Notebook Computers, based on unit sales, April-June 2020 and March-June 2020​.

14 Aug 2020 5:01pm GMT

Posted by Karen Ng, Director of Product and Robert Simpson, Product Manager

This blog post is part of a weekly series for #11WeeksOfAndroid. For each week, we're diving into a key area and this week we're focusing on Android Beyond Phones. Today, we'll share what's happening with Wear OS by Google.

Wearable technologies help people lead healthier lives and connect with important, timely information. Today, we're sharing our areas of investment focusing on the fundamentals, bringing even more helpful experiences to more watches, and giving users more choice in a device ecosystem.

Focusing on fundamentals

Wearables are designed to instantly connect people with what's important throughout the day. That's why we're focused on fundamentals like performance and power.

In the next OTA update coming in the fall, we're improving performance by making it faster to access your info and start your apps. We're simplifying the pairing process to make onboarding easier. You'll see improvements to our SysUI for more intuitive controls for managing different watch modes and workouts. And with CPU core improvements, you'll also see up to a 20% speed improvement in startup time for your apps.

Finally, we continue to support advancements in technology to bring new functionality, such as LTE, and expand levels of performance with the new Qualcomm® Snapdragon Wear™ 4100 and 4100+ platforms. We are excited by the kinds of wearable experiences that can be enabled in the future.

More helpful experiences

Wearables showcase important information at a glance. Some of the most used features of Wear OS by Google are hands-free timers and tracking fitness metrics. In response to COVID-19, we built a handwashing timer that helps ensure users practice good hygiene.

And later this year, you'll see a beautiful new weather experience for Wear OS by Google. It aims to be easier to read while on the go, with an hourly breakdown of today's weather to help you plan ahead and provide information about important weather alerts in your area.

We're always imagining new ways wearables can help people stay healthy, present and connected. Stay tuned for more in 2021!

More choice than ever

We're excited to welcome new watch OEMs to the Wear OS by Google family -- Oppo, Suunto, and Xiaomi. This means new watches that fit your style and needs -- such as the Suunto 7 with rich sports capabilities, or the new LTE watches from Oppo that will keep you connected on the go.

Bringing the best of Android to wearables

We're also working to bring the best of Android 11 to wearables. Many of the things you've seen in modern Android development -- from Android Studio, a great language with Kotlin, and Jetpack libraries to make common tasks easier will be part of what you can expect as a developer building wearable apps. We've just released a release candidate for androidx.wear 1.1.0, and would love feedback on things you'd like to see as you get started building a wearable app.

We can't wait to see what helpful experiences you'll build!

13 Aug 2020 1:05pm GMT

Posted by Iein Valdez, Head of Chrome OS Developer Relations

This article originally appeared on ChromeOS.dev.

While people are spending more time at home than on the go, they're relying increasingly on personal desktops and laptops to make everyday life easier. Whether they're video-chatting with friends and family, discovering entertaining apps and games, multitasking at work, or pursuing a passion project, bigger screens and better performance have made all the difference.

This trend was clear from March through June 2020: Chromebook unit sales grew 127% year over year (YOY) while the rest of the U.S. notebook category increased by 40% YOY.¹ Laptops have become crucial to people at home who want to use their favorite apps and games, like Star Trek™ Fleet Command and Reigns: Game of Thrones to enjoy action-packed adventure, Calm to manage stress, or Disney+ to keep the whole family entertained.

To deliver app experiences that truly improve people's lives, developers must be equipped with the right tools, resources, and best practices. That's why we're excited to introduce ChromeOS.dev - a dedicated resource for technical developers, designers, product managers, and business leaders.

ChromeOS.dev, available in English and Spanish (with other languages coming soon), features the latest news, product announcements, technical documentation, and code samples from popular apps. Whether you're a web, Android, or Linux developer who's just getting started or a certified expert, you'll find all the information you need on ChromeOS.dev.

Hear from our experts at Google and Chrome OS, as well as a variety of developers, as they share practical tips, benefits, and the challenges of creating app experiences for today's users. Plus, you can review the updated Chrome OS Layout and UX App Quality guidelines with helpful information on UI components, navigation, fonts, layouts, and everything that goes into creating world-class apps and games for Chrome OS.

Even better, as a fully open-source online destination, ChromeOS.dev is designed considering all the principles and methods for creating highly capable and reliable Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), ensuring developers always have quick, easy access to the information they need - even when they're offline.

Check out a few of the newest updates and improvements below, and be sure to install the ChromeOS.dev PWA on your device to stay on top of the latest information.

New features for Chrome OS developers

Whether it's developing Android, Linux, or web apps, every update on ChromeOS.dev is about making sure all developers can build better app experiences in a streamlined, easy-to-navigate environment.

Customizable Linux Terminal

The Linux (Beta) on Chrome OS Terminal now comes equipped with personalized features right out of the box, including:

• Integrated tabs and shortcuts
  Multitask with ease by using windows and tabs to manage different tasks and switch between multiple projects. You can also use familiar shortcuts such as Ctrl + T, Ctrl + W, and Ctrl + Tab to manage your tabs, or use the settings page to control if these keys should be used in your Terminal for apps like vim or emacs.
• Themes
  Customize your Terminal by selecting a theme to switch up the background, frame, font, and cursor color.
• Redesigned Terminal settings
  The settings tab has been reorganized to make it easier to customize all your Terminal options.

Developers can now start using these and other customizable features in the Terminal app.

Android Emulator support

Supported Chromebooks can now run a full version of the Android Emulator, which allows developers to test apps on any Android version and device without needing the actual hardware. Android app developers can simulate map locations and other sensor data to test how an app performs with various motions, orientations, and environmental conditions. With the Android Emulator support in Chrome OS, developers can optimize for different Android versions and devices - including tablets and foldable smartphones - right from their Chromebook.

Deploy apps directly to Chrome OS

Building and testing Android apps on a single machine is simpler than ever. Now, developers who are running Chrome OS M81 and higher can deploy and test apps directly on their Chromebooks - no need to use developer mode or to connect different devices physically via USB. Combined with Android Emulator support, Chrome OS is equipped to support full Android development.

Improved Project Wizard in Android Studio

An updated Primary/Detail Activity Template in Android Studio offers complete support to build experiences for larger screens, including Chromebooks, tablets, and foldables. This updated option provides multiple layouts for both phones and larger-screen devices as well as better keyboard/mouse scaffolding. This feature will be available in Android Studio 4.2 Canary 8.

Updated support from Android lint checks

We've improved the default checks in Android's lint tool to help developers identify and correct common coding issues to improve their apps on larger screens, such as non-resizable and portrait-locked activities. This feature is currently available for testing in Canary channel.

Unlock your app's full potential with Chrome OS

From day one, our goal has been to help developers at every skill level create simple, powerful, and secure app experiences for all platforms. As our new reality creates a greater need for helpful and engaging apps on large-screen devices, we're working hard to streamline the process by making Chrome OS more versatile, customizable, and intuitive.

Visit ChromeOS.dev and install it on your Chromebook to stay on top of the latest resources, product updates, thought-provoking insights, and inspiring success stories from Chrome OS developers worldwide.

Sources:
¹ The NPD Group, Inc., U.S. Retail Tracking Service, Notebook Computers, based on unit sales, April-June 2020 and March-June 2020​.

12 Aug 2020 4:30pm GMT

Posted by Mickey Kataria, Director of Product Management, Android for cars

This blog post is part of a weekly series for #11WeeksOfAndroid. For each week, we're diving into a key area and this week we're focusing on Android Beyond Phones. Today, we'll be talking about cars.

Since 2014, Google has been committed to bringing the familiarity of apps and services from Android phones into the car in a safe and seamless way. We're continuing to see strong momentum and adoption of both Android Auto and Android Automotive OS, and are excited to share new improvements that provide app developers the opportunity to reach more users in the car.

Android Auto momentum

We launched Android Auto for users to stay connected on-the-go and more easily access their Android phones on their car displays- while staying focused on the road. Android Auto is currently available with nearly every major car manufacturer and is on track to be in more than 100 million cars in the coming months. Many car manufacturers, including General Motors, BMW and Kia, have also added support for wireless connections, making it easier for drivers to use Android Auto as soon as they get into their car. We're continuing to add new features to make the experience more seamless for users and help developers reach more drivers with in-car apps.

Expanding Android Auto's app ecosystem

One of our most common requests for Android Auto continues to be support for more apps in the car. We currently have over 3,000 apps in Google Play whose in-car experiences have been purpose-built for driving.

Today, we're showcasing our work with early access partners to build apps in new categories for Android Auto, including navigation, parking and electric vehicle charging. Using our new Android for Cars App Library, we're able to ensure that all tasks within an app can be achieved with minimal glances or taps.

Early access partners for new apps on Android Auto

To mitigate driver distraction, we collaborated with government, industry and academic institutions to develop our own best practice guidelines that we apply to every aspect of our product development process. With our standard templates and guidelines, developers have the tools to easily optimize their apps for cars, without needing to become an expert in driver distraction.

Our early access partners will be releasing new apps to their beta testers by the end of this year. Pending additional testing and feedback, we then plan to make these APIs publicly available for all developers to build Android Auto apps in these categories.

We're partnering with some of the leading navigation, parking and electric vehicle charging apps around the world including ChargePoint, SpotHero and Sygic.

Android Automotive OS adoption

More recently, we introduced Android Automotive OS as a full-stack, open source and highly customizable platform powering vehicle infotainment systems. With Android Automotive OS, car manufacturers are able to have apps and services like Google Assistant, Google Maps and Google Play built into vehicles so that a mobile device is not required for common activities like navigation, downloading third-party apps and listening to media. Polestar 2, the first car running Android Automotive OS with Google built in, is now on the road and available for customers globally. In addition, Volvo Cars, Renault, General Motors and more have announced plans for infotainment systems powered by Android Automotive OS with Google apps and services built-in.

Extending the reach of media apps in cars

As more manufacturers begin to ship cars with infotainment systems powered by Android Automotive OS, developers have the opportunity to deliver a seamless media experience using Google Play in the car. If you already have a media app for Android Auto, you can extend the reach by adding support for Android Automotive OS. The process for porting over your apps is simple with most of the work already done, just follow these steps.

Making it easier to develop media apps for Android Automotive OS

For the past year, we have been on a journey to allow app developers to design, develop, test and publish media apps directly on Google Play in the car. We are happy to share that this is now possible.

Polestar 2 and Google Generic Automotive system images for Android emulator

We have made updates to the Android Automotive OS design guidelines and development documentation for you to add support for your media apps. We also launched updates to the emulator to include Google Assistant, Google Maps and Google Play, so you can develop and test your apps in an environment that more closely mirrors the software in the car. The Polestar 2 system image enables you to test your app on similar software that is available on the road today. Lastly, the Play Console now accepts Android Automotive OS APKs, enabling you to simply upload your app for quality review and publishing. These changes allow developers to seamlessly complete the end-to-end development process for Android Automotive OS.

Google Play features many media apps today, including Spotify, iHeartRadio, NPR One and more.

To learn more about how to create an app for Android Automotive OS, look out for updates or post on the automotive-developers Google Group or Stack Overflow using android-automotive tags.

With new app expansion on Android Auto and improved development tools for Android Automotive OS, developers have more opportunity than ever to reach users with app experiences optimized for the car. Head over to developer.android.com/cars to get started!

Resources

You can find the entire playlist of #11WeeksOfAndroid video content here, and learn more about each week here. We'll continue to spotlight new areas each week, so keep an eye out and follow us on Twitter and YouTube. Thanks so much for letting us be a part of this experience with you!

11 Aug 2020 1:00pm GMT

Posted by Dan Aharon, Product Manager, Android TV

This blog post is part of a weekly series for #11WeeksOfAndroid. This week we're focusing on Android Beyond Phones. So what's new on Android TV?.

With users asking for more TV shows, movies, and apps than ever, the big screen has become a big deal. There are now over 80% more Android TV monthly active devices than a year ago! Working with 7 of the top 10 Smart TV OEMs and over 160 TV Operators has helped give users more options to spruce up their living room with Android TV. But connecting with this many people wouldn't have been possible without the developer ecosystem building ~7,000 apps for Google Play on Android TV. Together, our users can now watch, play, and do more on their TVs.

Over the past year, we've introduced new features to Android TV to make discovering and accessing your content even easier for users. We updated Google Play with a refreshed look and new app collections while making it easier for users to subscribe to apps. We made additions to the Android TV home screen to highlight trending and important content. And most recently, we released Cast Connect, so your users can cast their favorite content directly to its native Android TV app.

We've heard from you on how else we can help support you. We are excited to announce 6 new ways that are coming soon to help you continue to improve engagement and commerce on the TV:

Easier acquisition and monetization

• Google Play Instant on TV: Get users into your app, fast. Google Play Instant allows users to try your app instantly, without installing it.

Let users try your app instantly on Google Play with Google Play Instant on TV

• Android TV Emulator with Play Store support: Test your TV projects seamlessly. The Android TV emulator now supports Google Play, so you can test subscriptions faster through the emulator instead of testing on real devices.

• PIN code purchases: Make purchases easy. Users will soon be able to purchase content with a PIN code instead of a password on Google Play.

More engaging user experiences

• Gboard TV: Typing on TV made easier. New layouts and features are being added to the Google keyboard on TV, including speech-to-text and predictive typing.

Use Gboard TV to bring speech-to-text and predictive typing to your app.

• Auto low latency mode: Make gaming on the TV even smoother. Ask Android TV to disable post-processing, and minimize latency whenever a gaming application is shown fullscreen.

• Leanback Library Improvements: Simplify app navigation and compatibility with the latest from the leanback library: top tab navigation, paging through media titles and shared code bases across mobile and TV are all simpler now!

This is just the latest for developers. You can find videos, codelabs, and documentation to bring more key features to life on the #11weeksofAndroid site and the Android TV Developers site. Catch the "What's new on Android TV" video for demos and more info about the features in this post.

If you are just getting started, check out our ADT-3 developer kit and Android 11 Developer Preview to start building your TV experience.

We are excited to see what you come up with next.

10 Aug 2020 1:00pm GMT

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