Now that Android P announced its first developer preview, it is now available for developers. Android P was released earlier in the month of March this year, where we can expect monthly updates to the beta version of the software. Which is expected to be completed by the month of August 2018, where it will be available onto Google Series and new debutant google Pixel 3.
Contradicting our expectation, Google took everybody by surprise when Android 9 was released just a few months ahead of the mammoth release of Google IO 2018. While we are still waiting to see the full-fledged version of Android P, based on what we have in hands right now we can say Android P is much more inclined towards changing the visual design of the operating system and adding challenges to Android Application Development. Being still under the work under progress mode we can expect much more changes to see in the coming months.
Despite being in test mode, still, there are many features in Android P that are catching developers eyes and are a talk of the month. Here are some of those features that have been released in the developer’s preview, let’s have a look.
Android P first impressions
On getting Android P onto Google Pixel XL the first thing that draws our attention is, of course, the visual. Android 9 features some major touch-ups with respect to color chrome menu and transition animation with some other refreshing ideas on the UI. Giving Pixel launcher a much modern look it is now rounded off at edges to match the look of notification windows. The change looks very complimentary on the new and improved look of Google with Android P.
The biggest style change is in the redesigned date and day display which are no longer underneath the time slab but is on the app notification icon. Also, now you don’t have to wake your phone to check the battery percentage which is now displayed on the screen bottom. There are many other updates to come for Ambient Display as the developer preview continues to roll further.
Major Features of Android 9
The Notch
The introducer of the notch, the Essential Phone was the first one to sport a notch, followed by iPhone X to develop it as a trend. While many mobile companies are adapting to the trend, Google also made a contribution to this bizarre trend. Other phones such as ZenFone 5 and rumored LG G7 are sporting the notch too into their visuals.
Being criticized for this action, Google is offering an official support for sensor cutouts and camera. Android P offers notches of all size- wide narrow, short tall etc. The display cut-out API lands developers support to get known with the location and shape of non-functional areas where content should not be placed and designing of their applications according to the cutout. If you are a developer and running the preview of the Android 9, you will find the cutout on scrolling down to Drawing and select Simulate.
Subtle Design Differences
There are many features which are quite similar in appearance to Android Oreo interface on Google Pixel. With little touchups and refinements such as notification and quick setting menu, Android 9 can be said a much profound and elegant version of Android 8.
In the notification shade, toggles and notification areas are separated with each given rounded corner. Adding more to toggle design they are given a circular and rounded look which appear shaded when activated. Similar to Samsung Galaxy 5 released a few years back, the setting menu to have the circular icons that are beautifully color coded.
Other than these design changes there is not much of change in the overall aesthetic of Android 9, the design of android P is inclined to a minimalist approach apart from setting menu which is given a little too much colorful appearance.
Read More About- ANDROID P FIRST LOOK HINTS MAJOR VISUAL CHANGES IN THE UPCOMING TIME
Indoor Navigation
Google Maps is considered one of the best navigation applications built so far, adding more edge to which Google Maps will now be able to navigate you sweetly indoors too (at a mall, skywalk system, office building etc.). In Android P, Google has added a native support to IEEE 802. 11mc Wi-Fi protocol also, dubbed as Wi-Fi RTT (Round Trip Time).
Depending on the device hardware support, your device applications will be benefitted from the new RTT API which gives accurate and precise device indoor location up to one to two meters. Making the point clear, Google will be setting a new milestone in building navigation and location-based services such as disambiguated voice control in the smart home devices and other stuff.
The feature will be heavily advantageous to someone looking for IoT App development while looking forward to an Android App development you can hire android app developer who has extensive knowledge of leveraging this exciting feature.
Native Support for HDR and HEIF
HDR and HEIF are a thing now in the tech industry, gaining immense haul Android P is now lending support to both the technologies. It has a native support for HDR VP9 profile, which will enable developers to cater HDR enabled videos in various apps to the app end-users. Pushing the line much further, Google’s action will encourage developers to work for HDR VP9 support, while the Android OEM’s still leaning towards HDR.
HEIF is comparatively quite new to technology, its compression technology allows you to save high-quality photos without compromising much space. When compared to JPEG, HEIF almost saves up to half the memory. With Android adding support for HEIF, it will be a start of new era of digital imaging.
Security
Security has become the central attraction, with each passing upgrade Android has elevated and revamped the security to extensive levels. With Android P, Google is all set to take things to another level. Not just confining to addressing bugs and filling the loopholes, Android P blocks app to record and access your data and device secretly, also it is now much more encrypted and safer.
For example, with this security update, Android limits an app to leverage mic, camera, sensors when the device is idle. In this attempt, Android P restricts applications to record and access your device data through sensors and mics without user permission. Also, now Android P encrypts the backups, it now uses a client-side secret which means your backup is now protected with PIN, Pattern or Password.
Android P Overview
From its first look, what can be made out about Android P is that it is all about revamping its visual style to a much more sophisticated look. Also, the upgrade has many developers benefitting and challenging features such as HDR VP 9 support and HEIF support, like notch and its various size cut-outs and much more. While the best thing that can be made out of the revelation is an amazing security it renders now to the devices. While Android P app development is a little challenging, if you are a business organization there are also many amazing opportunities. To leverage full-fledged benefits of which you can hire android app developers or also you can seek a good android app development company the USA where you will find good developer pool and advance technology tools.
Apart from these features, Android P is also sporting a native dual camera support, a new volume slider, an auto-rotate button in the navigation bar and lot more. While the above-mentioned features are the star of the latest Android OS upgrade.
