The Android N Developer Preview Thread

[V_R]

This is why I love Nexus devices, most are still waiting for Marshmallow and here's me running Nutella, Nougat, Nerds (how cool would it be if they called it that!?) or whatever they decide to call it.

I skipped the first preview due to it having quite a few issues like lag, bad battery, crashing etc. However preview 2 is looking good. Only been running it since last night but so far so good, no crashing, lagging or any other issues to report so far.

Last month, we released the first Developer Preview of Android N, to give you a sneak peek at our next platform. The feedback you’ve shared to-date has helped us catch bugs and improve features. Today, the second release in our series of Developer Previews is ready for you to continue testing against your apps.

This latest preview of Android N fixes a few bugs you helped us identify, such as not being able to connect to hidden Wi-Fi networks (AOSP 203116), Multiwindow pauses (AOSP 203424), and Direct Reply closing an open activity (AOSP 204411), to name just a few. We’re still on the hunt for more; please continue to share feedback, either in the N Developer Preview issue tracker or in the N preview community.

http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2016/04/android-n-developer-preview-2-out-today.html

 

[Ian]

I'm one of those still stuck on 5.1 Lollipop - it takes an age for updates to roll out on Sony phones!

Is it a big change, or just an incremental improvement? I had a look at some screenshots and I like the look of the new notification panel. Here's hoping they manage to build in some power conservation improvements .

 

[V_R]

I wouldn't say its a massive change, at least not from 6.0.1. More like lots of little tweaks, Under the hood and UI tweaks etc mostly.

Nice round up here.

http://www.androidauthority.com/android-7-0-features-673002/

 

[V_R]

 

[V_R]

I'm one of those still stuck on 5.1 Lollipop - it takes an age for updates to roll out on Sony phones!

Is it a big change, or just an incremental improvement? I had a look at some screenshots and I like the look of the new notification panel. Here's hoping they manage to build in some power conservation improvements .

Theres a Sony Marshmallow concept apparently.

http://blogs.sonymobile.com/2015/10/19/sonys-concept-for-android-marshmallow-now-rolling/

Thats as much as I know about it though!

 

[Ian]

Thanks @V_R! I've been keeping an on the beta rollout for a while, but it looks like there's still some time to go before it hits the UK (I missed the initial signup date to test it out). Not in too much of a rush though, as I'd rather have a stable OS if there are still bugs in Sony's implementation.

 

[V_R]

So after almost a week of using the N Preview 2 here are my thoughts....

What I like:
- All the UI tweaks to the notification shade and quick toggles look really slick and I love the new animation to the toggles when you pull down the shade.
- Night mode / the dark theme.
- The slide out menu in settings is a welcomed addition.
- Whilst I don't really use it, the clear all button in the recent apps menu is overdue in my opinion.
- The new RGB calibration sliders in the System UI Tuner menu mean I can tweak the colour of the screen to just how I like it.
- DPI scaling is neat
- Double tapping the recent apps button to switch between app is amazing. (like using Alt+Tab)
- Multiwindow! Samsung have had this for ages, why has it taken Google this long to implement it!? I have a 5.7" screen, I want to maximise it!


Bugs/issues I've come across.
- Battery life is a little worse than M but given this is a preview build I fully accept that in the hope that it will improve in the final build.
- I've had a few apps crash and one plain not work which is a bit annoying but to be expected.
- The settings crash when viewing the detailed battery stats for each process other than the screen on time.
- Minor lag/choppiness when browsing the UI
- Randomly the attach button in Whatsapp doesn't work (thought I've read that is an issue with the Whatsapp beta - which I had forgotten I had signed up to, so that's my own fault! lol) so spamming people isn't quite as quick as could be. I'll have to reinstall the normal version when I get the chance.
- A couple of times in the car when playing music over Bluetooth the player (I use GMMP) would pause playback after the first song. Only noticed this over the weekend so I could do with a bit more testing to find the exact issue.


So overall I am liking the way that Android is going and can't wait for the next update and later on the final build.

So would I recommend you install it or not? That depends, If you're willing to accept it isn't perfect yet and you can live with the battery life and odd crashing app and you really want to give it a go then yeah, why not. Just be aware if you want to go back to Marshmallow you will have to wipe your phone and start again.

 

[V_R]

Just because....

Nova Launcher Prime
Weather Timeline
Icons

 

[Ian]

I like the look of that V_R!

 

[V_R]

Tbh it looks a lot better on the phone, less washed out.

 

[V_R]

So DP3 was really good, very stable, and with very few bugs.

DP4 released yesterday. Installed. working flawlessly. You honestly wouldn't know its a beta.

Changelog: https://developer.android.com/preview/support.html#dp4

New in DP4
Android N final APIs
Developer Preview 4 includes the final APIs for the upcoming Android N platform. The new API level is 24.

Play publishing
You can now publish apps that use API level 24 to Google Play, in alpha, beta, and production release channels.

Android Studio and tools updates
Along with Developer Preview 4 we’re providing the final API 24 SDK to be used with Android Studio 2.1.2 and higher. In addition, we’re releasing updated Developer Preview 4 system images for the emulator to help test your apps.

As new updates roll out for Android Studio, you should see minor improvements in the new project wizards and AVD manager as we add enhanced support for API 24. These are primarily cosmetic changes and should not stop you from getting your app ready for an update in the Play store.

Feature and API changes

• In previous versions of Android, an app activates with all of its locale resources loaded before locale negotiation begins. Starting in Android N DP4, the system negotiates resource locales individually for each resource object before the app activates.
• As announced at Developer Preview 3, we’ve deferred the Launcher Shortcuts feature to a later release of Android. In Developer Preview 4, we’ve removed the Launcher Shortcuts APIs.
• We’ve changed the BLE Scanning behavior starting in DP4. We’ll prevent applications from starting and stopping scans more than 5 times in 30 seconds. For long running scans, we’ll convert them into opportunistic scans.
• The Multi-Window android:minimalHeight and android:minimalWidth attributes have been renamed to android:minHeight and android:minWidth.

Initial impressions....

BBC sport app works again.
Cool new animation when installing the update.
Still no dark/night mode.
Bit too early to tell regarding battery life, but it seems similar if not better.

Oh and lol Google: