Google announces first developer preview of the next version of the OS: Android O. The developer preview system images are available for Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel, Pixel XL and Pixel C devices. Android Beta is not currently available for Android O.
As per Google, The initial preview release is for developers only and not intended for daily or consumer use. Enrollments for Android O Beta will be open once the product is closer to the final release. The O Developer Preview runs from 21 March 2017 until the final Android O public release to AOSP and OEMs, Final release planned for Q3 2017.
Android O Developer Preview Highlights
- Background limits – To improve battery life and the device performance
- Notification channels – App-defined categories for notification
- Autofill APIs – to store and secure user data, such as addresses, usernames, and passwords
- Picture in Picture (PIP) – for phones and tablets
- App overlay window – for launching an activity on a remote display
- Font resources in XML
- Adaptive icons – displays in different shapes, based on a mask selected by the device
- Wide-gamut color for apps
- High-quality Bluetooth audio codecs such as the LDAC codec
- Wi-Fi Aware – With the appropriate hardware nearby devices can discover and communicate over Wi-Fi without an Internet access point
- Keyboard navigation – More reliable, predictable model for “arrow” and “tab” navigation
- AAudio API for Pro Audio – High-performance, low-latency audio
- WebView enhancements
- Java 8 language APIs and Runtime optimizations
- Pinning shortcuts and widgets
- Accessibility – Language detection, Accessibility button, Fingerprint gestures, Word-level highlighting, Hint text, Continued gesture dispatch
- Multi-display support
- Partner platform contributions