For the reason that launch of Android 15 in September, the Android growth workforce has been arduous at work on the subsequent main launch and at the moment declares the primary developer preview of Android 16.
In response to the workforce, this launch marks the beginning of a quicker launch cycle for Android APIs. Beforehand, the primary API launch would happen within the third quarter, however subsequent yr it should happen within the second quarter. This higher aligns with the gadget’s launch schedule and can permit extra units to get the Android launch sooner, the workforce defined.
As a result of the API was launched earlier, the Android workforce recommends that builders carry out compatibility testing a couple of months prematurely to make sure apps are prepared on time.
Following the Q2 launch, there might be one other main API launch in This autumn that can embrace developer API and have updates, optimizations, and bug fixes, however won’t embrace new behavioral modifications that will influence purposes.
Moreover, there’ll nonetheless be quarterly Android releases, and Q1 and Q3 updates that happen between API releases will embrace incremental updates, the Android workforce defined.
When it comes to new options within the working system itself, the brand new additions to Android on this developer preview embrace:
- The flexibility to embed the picture picker in an app’s view hierarchy, so customers can choose media while not having to supply an app with overly broad permissions
- Help for medical data in Well being Join
- The newest model of Android Privateness Sandbox
The Android growth workforce additionally shared that it hopes to attain platform stability by March 2025 to present app builders sufficient time to check their apps earlier than last launch, sometimes in late summer time or early fall.
